The University of California San Diego Center for Community Health and the San Diego County Childhood Obesity Initiative, in partnership with the City of Chula Vista, Chula Vista Elementary School District, WE SUPPORT U, Global Action Research Center, County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency, San Diego Hunger Coalition, Northgate González Market, and other community partners seek to address food insecurity and obesity in the city of Chula Vista by developing a nutrition program that will help community members to afford and consume more fruits and vegetables for better health.
This innovative nutrition program will work to both increase the accessibility of fruits and vegetables and to increase the city's overall food security levels through community engagement, advocacy and policy, systems and environmental change.
This initiative will engage and train city residents through a well-established network of promotores (community health workers) and community partners and build on the success of the ¡Más Fresco! (More Fresh) Nutrition Incentive Program to increase food access and food security while simultaneously reducing obesity.
The Resident Leadership Academy (RLA) is a 10-session bilingual training program that educates community residents on how environments shape health outcomes and empowers them to advocate for healthy food access, improved public safety, and increased physical activity opportunities in their neighborhoods.
In each RLA, participants discuss, assess, and document their community’s needs and collaborate to enact change through Community Improvement Projects.
Since its founding in 2011, RLA groups have improved their communities through Farmer’s Market enhancements, pedestrian and traffic safety improvements around elementary schools, creation of pocket farms and community gardens, enhanced walking and biking infrastructure, and campaigns for healthy food availability and store conversions.
Check out the 6 Word Story here!
This website includes a collection of the images taken during Winter 2021's Resident Leadership Academy community need assessment. Images are categorized by photographer and accompanied by quotes identifying their relevant barriers and/or assets to public health.
Each photograph aims to depict an honest assessment of Chula Vista's social determinants of health and works to build visual literacy with the City's social issues and health disparities. We hope the viewer is encouraged to take a critical look at their policy, systems, and environmental surroundings to advocate for bettering themselves, their community, and society at large.