Having come off of the excitement of receiving the National
Civic League’s All American Cities award in 2014, Choy said
that the EDC began to dig deeper into exploring how engaging
people in their local economy has a direct effect on the health of
a community. “If people are not going to work locally, if they
don’t have paid time off, if they don’t have benefits, they are
not able to participate in the health and welfare of their family
without missing out on pay or losing their job,” she said. “The
EDC has been arguing that by improving a person’s ability to
earn income and stay locally, they can better maintain their
community relationships and take care of their family, and that
can actually influence the health of their community as well.”
With this goal set, it only seemed appropriate for the EDC to
apply for the RWJF Culture of Health Prize. As Choy described,
the EDC is, in many ways, a storyteller for the community
and through applying for this prize, it was the non-profit’s
opportunity to share San Pablo’s story. “So many folks have their
heads down working hard and they don’t even see the incredible
story that is unfolding within their own community,” she said.
“We may be small and scrappy, but the way we are working
together is quite different and we just wanted a chance to tell our
story.”
In addition to the modest cash prize and having a platform
to share San Pablo’s story, the EDC was deeply motivated to
compete for this national distinction because of the snowballing
effect it can have on their community. “Yes, some cities would
rather be handed a quarter of a million dollars,” said Choy, “but
with this award, you get so much more than money.” The added
benefits for San Pablo have been the opportunity to be a part
of a national dialogue on building healthy, safe, and equitable
communities. “Now San Pablo is forever on a national map,” she
said. “It is important to be a part of this larger conversation, and
we are excited at the potential this opportunity has.”
According to Choy, there are three distinct phases to the
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RWJF Culture of Health Prize application process. “It
is such a huge competition and you go through a long,
multi-stage process,” she described. In the fall of 2016, the
EDC first learned of the award and got to work on the first
phase of the application—a concise essay and amateur video
answering why they were applying and the initiatives and
accomplishments that support their reasons—which was due
in the first week of November 2016. “Our thesis was that
engagement in the local economy, meaningful engagement,
is everything to the health of a community,” described Choy.
Nearly 211 communities from across the country submitted
applications during this initial phase.
It was not until the following month that the EDC
received the invitation to submit phase two—a detailed
itinerary of who RWJF representatives would talk to,
what they would discuss, and what they would see in the
community if they were to visit—which was due by the
end of January 2017. Only 37 of the original applicants
were selected for this phase. To the surprise of EDC, they
received the call in March that San Pablo was one of eleven
communities to move onto phase three, a site visit that
would occur in the first week of May 2017.
“In the site visit we had to solidify everything we detailed
in the previous phases,” Choy said. “At any point in time
there is so much going on in San Pablo, so we chose to not
stage anything for the visit.” Admittedly, this was a time
when she was thankful that San Pablo is such a small city
because the site visit scheduling was tight. During the visit,
RWJF representatives conducted a community conversation
where residents were able to openly express their experiences
in the various programs and initiatives the EDC and the city
had implemented. “I was able to hear voices that I had never
heard before,” shared Choy. “It was fascinating and rewarding
to be able to sit and listen, like a fly on the wall, to that
conversation and to hear people talk about their experiences
going through the programs.”
During late June Choy received the call back from
RWJF that San Pablo was one of eight communities to win
the Culture of Health Prize. “I got the news but I was not
allowed to tell anybody,” she said. “I was doing the quiet
squealing in my office and my feet were doing a happy dance
under my desk.” Keeping the joyous news a secret until the
official announcement in mid-September 2017 was torture,
Choy said.
Since making the official announcement, the EDC has
been busy spreading the word to everyone in every part of the
city to keep the momentum of the award going. The EDC
is planning on having an official bringing-home-the-prize
celebration during the city’s 4th of July event this year. “This
may be a one-time award, but it’s about propelling San Pablo
forward,” shared Choy. “It is about looking at where we want
to go; not just about the immediate next thing, but about the
long-term vision.” According to Choy, the residents of this
humble and hardworking community have been very surprised
at the national award and the youth are excited.
The large goal going forward, according to Choy, is to
continue to “cultivate the leaders of tomorrow and to build
greater community engagement overall.” This first step for
this will be through a series of community forums the EDC is
Through the monthly Removing Barriers tattoo removal program, sponsored by the
EDC, residents are able to have their unwanted tattoos removed for a very low-cost
fee. “I love the Removing Barriers program with all my heart,” said Choy. “The
program takes great people who have so much potential but maybe on the surface
are being misjudged and blocked from employment opportunities, but even more
so, whether the tattoos are visible or not to others, the removal of these vestiages
of the past make every difference to the individual and their confidence.