City of Gonzales
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & STRATEGIC
PARTNERSHIPS
STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor Rios and City Council
DATE: March 21, 2022
FROM: Carmen Gil, Community Engagement & Strat. Partnership Dir.
THROUGH: René L. Mendez, City Manager
SUBJECT: Community Engagement and Strategic Partnerships Actitivity Report Gonzales Youth Council
1. The Youth Council continues to meet on a biweekly basis and more recently started meeting in person once again. During their meetings they are breaking up into workgroups to begin taking on the work for the two projects they want to focus on this year which they have determined to be pedestrian safety and mental health.
2. The Youth Council also continues to engage with the folks from Blue Zones and the commissioners plan to attend the Blue Zones school submit being held March 15th.
3. The Gonzales Youth Council are also planning a series of meetings with the Soledad Youth Council to see if they can build synergy between their projects and work on something collectively.
4. The Youth Council has also been meeting Dr. Lovell from CSUMB and her team of research students to begin planning for the follow up around the next phase of the mental health survey.
Gonzales Cares Program
1. Staff continues to stay busy with the rental and utility assistance program. However, we are nearing the end of our funding and expect our rental assistance to be fully expended in the next few months. We will however support the program by referring individuals needing support to another partner organization.
AGENDA
ITEM
7 COVID-19 and Community Health Workers (CHWs)
1. The Community Health Care Workers (CHWs) continue to provide testing services at St.
Theodore’s Church on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting at 2:00pm. They are also testing at the school Technology portable on Tuesday’s starting at 2:00pm. They are seeing less and less people coming into test, but we will be monitoring the situation once the schools go mask-free.
Community Engagement
1. Staff is working hard on planning for the first round of activities in celebration of the City’s 75th Year Anniversary. Staff is working with an individual to document the local history of the town.
On March 21st we will also be having a small ceremony as part of the City Council meeting and on April 2
nd we will be hosting a car show. The car show will include food vendors, live performers, and a children's zone. The community is excited to participate and there seems to be a lot of anticipation.