CalOptima CEO Richard Sanchez, Chairman of the CalOptima Board of Directors and Chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors Andrew Do and other leaders recently participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of Casa Paloma, an affordable and supportive housing project in Midway City.

“CalOptima is grateful to be partnering with the County, American Family Housing and other organizations to address homelessness by integrating health care and support into this housing community,” said Sanchez at the event. “The agency’s motto is ‘Better. Together.’ Casa Paloma is certainly a reflection of this."

Over the past six years, Supervisor Do has collaborated with local and state leaders to make affordable housing developments like Casa Paloma a priority in Orange County. Casa Paloma is the first development in Southern California to receive $6 million from the Housing for a Healthy California program. It brings Orange County 71 units closer to the goal of developing 2,700 units of affordable housing by 2025.

All state workers and workers in health care and high-risk congregate settings must show proof of full vaccination or be tested at least once per week. The State of California encourages all local government and other employers to adopt a similar protocol. The new policy for state workers took effect August 2, and testing will be phased in over the next few weeks. The new policy for health care workers and congregate facilities will take effect on August 9, and health care facilities will have until August 23 to come into full compliance. Click here to read the press release.

CalOptima partners with UCI for regular contributions to the Community Announcements. The contributions are from UCI infectious disease experts and are about COVID-19 hot topics.

This week’s articles address the delta variant, mask mandates and predictions on increasing case rates thrrough the next several months. Click here to read about these hot topics.

The Orange County Health Care Agency is collaborating with community partners to host mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinics countywide. *Call 714-834-2000 to schedule an appointment or arrange transportation. For more information about upcoming vaccine clinics, click here.

*Event dates are subject to change

OCTA’s Community College Pass Program allows thousands of students enrolled at Santa Ana College, Santiago Canyon College, Golden West College, Fullerton College, Saddleback College and Cypress College to access unlimited rides on OC Bus anywhere in the county. To learn more about the Community College Pass, click here.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation that establishes a pilot program to give every fourth grader a free annual pass to 19 California state parks. The legislation advances the state’s commitment to equitable access to California state parks. Click here to learn more about the pilot program.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health seeks input from Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and AAPI-serving organizations to inform the development of guidance describing best practices for advancing cultural competency, language access and sensitivity toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the context of the federal government's COVID-19 response. Click here to view the request for information.

Habitat OC is looking for low- and moderate-income families or individuals that have a steady and verifiable form of income, have a need for an improved living situation and are willing to partner with Habitat OC. For more information on how to qualify, click here. The homebuyer orientation flyer is available in English and Spanish.

The San Diego and Orange County Regional Committees invite you to participate in a virtual training on August 6 and 13 from 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m. The training is to support agencies that want to implement promotoras programs in various workforces. Click here to see the flyer.