Central Valley Health Policy Institute
Evaluation
Highlights & Features
The Sweet Potato Project aims to improve livelihood outcomes of at-risk youth living in southwest Fresno.
Sweet Potato Project 2 Full Report
Sweet Potato Project 2 Executive Summary
CRDP Sweet Potato Year 1 Evaluation Data Report
CRDP Sweet Potato Year 2 Evaluation Data Report
March 2022
The Sweet Potato Project is a part of the California Reducing Disparities Project
(CRDP), a first kind Prevention and Early Intervention initiative funded by the Mental
Health Services Act (MHSA, OR Proposition 63). The Sweet Potato Project is implemented
as a Pilot program at the West Fresno Family Resource Center to identify and model
the effectiveness of a culturally relevant approach that
addresses mental health disparities among African American youth ages 12-15 in West
Fresno. The program goals include: developing self-esteem, socioemotional wellbeing,
leadership, agribusiness, and entrepreneurial skills, while also fostering improvement
to social and environmental stressors among southwest Fresno’s at-risk youth by increasing
academic success, hope for the future, and collective efficacy. CVHPI conducted the
evaluation through a mixed methods approach from 2018-2021
What the FAX
September 2021
The Fresno Area Express, also known as the FAX, is Fresno’s regional public transportation system and the largest mass transportation provider in the San Joaquin Valley. Fresno Building Healthy Communities (BHC) has been working to empower residents to use their voice and promote change to systems that should effectively serve community needs since 2010. BHC and partner organizations started the “What the FAX” campaign as a result of community frustration that led to youth-driven and adult ally supported data collection and organizing efforts, and their collective push for improved public transportation infrastructure throughout the city of Fresno.
Invest in SouthWest
September 4, 2021
In order to build long-lasting change, resident and advocate-driven work has needed to address and correct Fresno’s legacy of discriminatory neighborhood, housing, land use, and planning policies, including ongoing battles to reverse the impacts of redlining and ongoing community-level disinvestment. The results of this legacy have resulted in southwest Fresno being one of the most pollution-burdened locations in the state. Through vibrant community engagement, community organizing, advocacy, litigation, and large-scale voter education, the Fresno BHC Coalition emerged as a key player that helped the community to design southwest Fresno’s future.