Emerging Neighborhoods

Neighborhood Intermediary Communities: 

• Linda Vista

Bayside Community:

Bayside Community Center has served as a core infrastructure by providing a space where resident-led groups and their community-wide networks-- Convivio Latino, Mixtec- Familia Indigena Unida, Lao Hmong Family, and the Vietnamese-Vang Lang Center-- gather to facilitate group meetings and host events and classes. Each of these groups is  based in the community and has credible and respected leaders who engage the residents. In addition to the multi-ethnic groups mentioned above, Bayside also hosts the Linda Vista Collaborative and the Linda Vista Planning Committees every month. Each group has a powerful presence in the decision-making process of the Linda Vista community by participating in the current community planning process, as well as outreaching to the multi-ethnic residents in a joint effort to preserve and promote the cultural richness and identity of Linda Vista. Bayside also provides multiple services to the senior population in Linda Vista; they have, over time, become a very strong group and prominent voice as they share the challenges they face.

The most recent community outreach efforts were organized to engage community participation for the 2010 Census campaign. The San Diego Foundation for Change and United Way granted Bayside stipend awards to incentivize local volunteers in helping us reach the “hardest-to-count”, primarily the immigrant populations in Linda Vista. Volunteers from the Convivio Latino and Familia Indigena Unida teamed up by organizing a community-wide event on March 18, 2010 at Bayside Community Center that attracted 230 residents from Linda Vista. Together, we coordinated volunteers who provided one-on-one assistance to residents to complete their 2010 Census forms. Donated food and clothing items from the New Season’s Church inter-faith community were distributed. Other outreach efforts involved knocking on doors and educational presentations throughout the community and local schools.

Prior to the 2010 Census campaign, another recent community engagement effort was organizing the senior citizens from the community when we abruptly received the notice in the middle of February that Bayside would be loosing our congregate senior lunch program at the end of June. Live Well San Diego had provided our hot lunches and could no longer sustain the program.  Our immediate action plan was to call all the senior citizens and have them brainstorm potential solutions. Our congregate meal program feeds 15-20 seniors on a daily basis. The majority of the seniors who attend have been participating for the last twenty years since the lunch program started. As a second step, Bayside engaged the media to provide immediate coverage and to highlight the drastic impact that loosing the congregate meals program would mean for those seniors who may come to eat their only meal for the day. The members of the community were very generous and responded immediately to the news article published by the Voice of San Diego. Many of these generous individuals supported us by sending donations. This experience, allowed the seniors citizens to realize that if they do not engage in collective action we will continue to loose more and more essential programs that help keep seniors mentally healthy.

Linda Vista Building Community: 

Bayside earned its credibility and trust by playing a defining role as a bridge maker in the Linda Vista community, serving as a catalyst and as a facilitator to empower the diverse community members in Linda Vista.  Bayside is rooted in a philosophy that develops connections between what the community envisions for itself and the broader processes at the city and regional level. The recent incentives to increase community input as part of the decision making process, have not been as open in the past, therefore, Bayside recognizes that it is vital to implement diverse approaches of engaging and promoting community involvement if we aim to include the community leaders who are not currently involved in this decision making process. Bayside also recognizes that Linda Vista is a community with individuals who possess capabilities and gifts and who are more likely to actively participate in the decision making process when their ideas are integrated as a holistic part encompassing their cultural and personal experience. In the past the following organizing strategies have included, community gatherings, potlucks, focus groups, forming small leadership committees, and the fostering of relationship building opportunities.

Bayside has successfully supported community driven agendas with the Latino and Mixtec leaders in our community. For example, in response to the recent budget cuts experienced by our local schools, the parents requested our support to engage the youth in affordable after school activities. The Linda Vista Collaborative and Bayside Community Center received funding from District Supervisor Ron Roberts, under his Childhood Obesity Prevention Initiative. Last fall, Bayside and members of our community formed a collaborative effort led by the residents, the Linda Vista Parks and Recreation council, and Volunteer San Diego among other committed partners and volunteers from outside Linda Vista to host the 2^nd Annual Linda Vista Soccer Tournament. By implementing a variety of outreach approaches including, canvassing, door-to-door knocking, advertising at local churches and schools, we successfully recruited 160 participants between the ages of 7-17 to participate on October 3-4 2009. The annual Linda Vista Soccer Tournament has motivated parents and their children to participate as players, coaches, and cheerleaders. It is the community’s engagement and their pride that made this collaborative effort a success. This year, Bayside has passed the organizing role to a committee of eight resident members from Linda Vista who participate on the leadership team for the Convivio Latino.

At the regional level, Linda Vista’s involvement in the decision making process has increased through our partnership with the San Diego Association of Governments. Adriana Gallardo, our Community Advocate sits as a Linda Vista representative at the 2050 Regional Transportation Stakeholders Group. The goal is to participate in the development of the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan and to provide Linda Vista community input which will become a part of the final update of this document expected to be completed by the summer 2011. On May 4, 2010, Bayside hosted a 2050 regional Transportation Plan community outreach, which attracted 80 community members. As part of this event, various planners with specific areas of expertise were available to give an overview and answer people’s questions. In the effort to promote community involvement by disseminating information, the Stakeholder’s Group understands that better informed residents are able to successfully contribute their feedback for the future of our region’s transportation. An important element of this process involves the implementation of Sustainable Communities Strategies, which follows a similar guide to improving the quality of life of the communities that are served and seeks to diminish the environmental impacts.

Contact Information:

Executive Director: Jorge Riquelme
2202 Comstock St.
San Diego Ca. 92111
858-278-0771

Program Contact Person: Monica Fernandez
Community Advocate
Bayside Community Center
858-278-0771 X 3038
Fax:  858-278-6193
mfernandez@baysidecc.org
www.baysidecc.org