Service-Learning OpportunitiesAt — Saticoy Food Hub
At this time, Saticoy Food Hub will be conducting its very own community needs assessment for the Saticoy area. This assessment will be holistic and comprehensive where some people will lead investigation toward food laws and policy that inhibit grocery stores and food producing businesses to be inside of Saticoy. Additionally, there will be a comparison between LA county, Santa Barbara county, and Ventura county over their food systems and laws. Lastly, surveys, focus groups, and interviews will be conducted on Saticoy residents asking about: food insecurity, job stability/opportunity, citizenship, access to programs, housing, and more in order to figure out the root causes of the issues the residents are experiencing. This project will start in June 2023 and extend until December 2023 or January 2024.
Students will have learned about the social determinants of health and how racism in various types of structures lead to inequalities between different races that can be seen in job opportunities, income earnings, health issues, housing opportunities, and general access and stability in every day life. Students will also learn how to build a community needs assessment as during the summer the questions will be constructed and picked. They will see how collaboration occurs between different types of people: Saticoy residents, non profits, government, and education systems. Students will also be part of Community Based Participatory Research where the main investigators will be Saticoy residents and how it is better to empower the people experiencing the problems to use their voice and be part of the whole process of bringing help and change to a community in need. Students will have the chance to do interviews, focus groups, and marketing of the community needs assessment. Lastly, students will see, learn, or be part of the data analysis, creation of the final report, and the opportunity to be part of the action plan that will be created after the assessment report.
Students will be educated first about social determinants of health and how the systems that exist (city zoning, what is considered a legal or illegal job, food policy, etc) impact people to not have equal access to healthcare, food, or work opportunities. Then students will be taught about how questions can be leading or not as well as how to ask a question that aims for the root cause of the problem and not symptom management. After that, they will be trained to do research about comparison of laws and or conduct interviews, marketing for the community needs assessment, and or focus groups.
Students will be paired in groups when working with the community and mainly going out during the day not evenings in order to ensure safety. Focus groups and interviews will also be mainly conducted in Saticoy Food Hub’s office, Saticoy Library, and potentially Saticoy Community Center. Any interviews or focus groups conducted in a community member home will have Barbara with them in order to check that it is safe and clear before going and is there if anything seems off.
| Hours | Duration |
|---|---|
| 60 | hours per academic term |