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4 Great Visa Rewards Cards

Compensate cards are a method for charge card business to offer a little back to their consumers. You can capitalize on this by picking a benefits card that provides you benefits for doing what you do anyhow, be it spending for your pet dog, buying online, or pursuing an evening on the community. Keeping that in mind, allow’s have a look at 4 of the most effective Visa incentives cards readily available:

Animal Rewards Visa

Card owners obtain 500 reward factors after their initial acquisition, plus one factor for every buck invested on daily acquisitions. Consumers can begin gaining incentives with simply 750 factors gathered, and also those factors can be placed towards vet solutions, price cut certifications for pet dog food, as well as contributions to animal sanctuaries.

Chase Amazon.Com Platinum Visa Card

When purchasing with this card, you will certainly make 1,500 reward factors after your initial Amazon acquisition. After that, you will certainly make 3 factors for every buck invested on Amazon.Com, as well as 1 factor for each buck invested on acquisitions somewhere else. For every 2,500 benefits factors you make, you will certainly obtain a $25 Amazon benefits present certification.

Chase Freedom Points Visa

Simply regarding anybody can take benefit of the incentives it provides, due to the fact that incentive factors are gained with typical acquisitions– grocery stores, gas, and also rapid food. Card owners gain one factor for each buck invested anywhere else. Incentives can be declared beginning at 1,000 factors.

Financial Institution of America Visa Signature with WorldPoints

If you like the finer points in life, and also you regularly go out for amusement, this card can assist you obtain excellent seats, final appointments, and also hard-to-find presents for somebody unique. Card owners make one factor for every buck they invest, and also can retrieve the factors for favored seats at sporting activities, enjoyment, as well as various other occasions. No yearly charge, no passion on equilibrium transfers or cash money breakthrough checks for one year, as well as outright fraudulence defense make this card an appealing choice.

By utilizing a benefits card, you are making price cuts and also factors to place towards acquisitions you would regularly make anyhow. This makes life a little less complicated, which is a benefit by itself.

Compensate cards are a means for credit rating card business to provide a little back to their consumers. You can take benefit of this by choosing an incentives card that provides you benefits for doing what you do anyhow, be it paying for your pet dog, buying online, or going out for an evening on the community. Card owners get 500 benefit factors after their very first acquisition, plus one factor for every buck invested on day-to-day acquisitions. Simply concerning any individual might take benefit of the incentives it uses, since incentive factors are made with typical acquisitions– grocery stores, gas, as well as rapid food. Card owners make one factor for every buck they invest, as well as can retrieve the factors for favored seats at sporting activities, enjoyment, and also various other occasions.

His appeal comes in a message to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, observed annually on 9 August. 

This year the focus is on the role indigenous women have in preserving and passing on traditional knowledge. 

Cultural champions 

“Indigenous women are knowledge keepers of traditional food systems and medicines. They are champions of Indigenous languages and cultures. They defend the environment and Indigenous peoples’ human rights,” said Mr. Guterres. 

“To build an equitable and sustainable future that leaves no one behind, we must amplify the voices of Indigenous women”. 

Indigenous traditional knowledge can offer solutions to many common global challenges, said the UN chief, recalling his recent visit to Suriname, where he learned how communities are protecting the rainforest and its rich biodiversity. 

Mr. Guterres urged countries to implement the landmark UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and to promote Indigenous traditional knowledge for the benefit of all. 

‘We are the same’ 

In connection with the International Day, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been highlighting the contributions of some of its staff who are from indigenous communities. 

Deborah Suc, an agronomist in Guatemala, is the first woman from the Poqomchi ethnic group to graduate from university.  

Ms. Suc works as a WFP field technician in the San Cristóbal municipality, which is located in Alta Verapaz department in north central Guatemala.   

She supports the implementation of resilience activities in Poqomchi and Q’eqchi’ indigenous communities towards reducing poverty and hunger. Her job involves hosting workshops, leading meetings, or visiting families in their homes. 

“When the women see me driving the car and I get out dressed in my suit, they are surprised and say, ‘We knew you spoke Poqomchí, but we didn’t know you were one of us.’ I tell them that we are the same and that we can all do different things”. 

The way Ms. Suc is treated in San Cristóbal is light years away from her experience at university, where some people would make crude jokes at her expense. 

Pride and prejudice 

Unfortunately, the discrimination did not end when she received her master’s degree. 

“When I get to some places in my suit, they stare at me with contemptuous expressions. On one occasion, while I was waiting to start a workshop at a government institution related to education, a person approached me to hand me the dirty dishes because he thought I was the cleaning person. He was very surprised when he found out that I was going to facilitate the workshop,” she recalled. 

“Before, I was very affected by the way they saw me, but now I don’t take the time to pay attention to it because I feel very proud of who I am, of the mum and dad I have, of the person I am now”. 

Respect for all 

Ms, Suc had always worked outside her municipality, but now that she has returned to San Cristóbal she said “it is a satisfaction to work for my people”.  She also is proud to be an inspiration to her community. 

“Nothing makes me happier than knowing that I can inspire other people and say, ‘Look, if we didn’t have a chance to study, now with these trainings you’re going to have other skills, you’re going to learn other things,” she said. 

WFP asked Ms. Suc what would she like her colleagues to learn on the International Day. 

She said she wanted them to know that indigenous peoples have principles and values, and that they have great respect for nature, which in turn means respect for people. 

“I would like them to learn that we have a lot of respect for the value of the word, we have many cultural values, and we are people who like to get ahead,” she responded. 

“In addition, many of the negative things that are said about indigenous peoples are not true. The thing is, we haven’t had the opportunities, but when we’ve had them, we were able to do a lot of things.” 

Spring has sprung, and if you’re a gardener, that means that the time has come to roll up your sleeves, don your overalls and sun hats, and get down to business. We know how time can be, flying by, and then before you know it, the warmer months are here and you haven’t had time to start your seeds for that vegetable garden yet.

If you’re running a bit behind, don’t worry too much because there are plenty of veggies that prefer to be direct sown. Many of these vegetables have stems or roots that are fragile, which means that transplanting can disrupt their growth and leave you with sub-par results.

May and June are great months for direct seeding vegetable gardens, especially for those living north of hardiness zone 7, where the ground is still warming up through those early spring months. Before you break out your seed trays, let’s talk about some vegetables that can be directly sown in the month of May and into June.

Bush Beans

A perfect starter vegetable crop, bush beans can be grown by beginners and experienced gardeners alike. Bush beans are a warm-weather crop.

They perform best when temperatures reach a range of 65°-85°F, which sets Southern states squarely in the month of May, while in more Northern states with cooler climates, June is an ideal month to drop some Bush Bean seeds into the ground.

Bush beans are a type of bean that germinates quickly and easily, and they grow fast, so there is no need to start them indoors. They are well suited to garden beds, raised beds, and containers alike, and they are nitrogen fixers, so they help to enrich the soil for other plants.

Contender

Named for its ability to compete with the best of the beans, Contender is a disease-resistant variety of bush beans with large, stringless pods.

Taking only 50 days to mature, if you get these in the ground by mid-May, they will be ripe for the 4th of July cookouts.

Blue Lake 274

These tasty green beans are great if you’re looking for something a bit more delicate and flavorful. This variety produces plump, delicious pods with smooth white beans in about 58 days. If you pick them promptly, these beans are stringless, and they are also disease resistant.

Gold Rush

These pretty beans stand out in a field of green. The creamy golden hue of Gold Rush beans makes them easy to harvest. I am always partial to the unconventionally colored varieties of veggies.

They really elevate a meal with their uniqueness. Gold Rush keeps very well on the vine and is a great variety for freezing.

Summer Squash

Summer squash is one summer vegetable that is easy to grow and can be prepared in many wonderful ways. I’ve never met a squash casserole I didn’t like.

Squash plants really produce an exceptional harvest and require very little care. They germinate quickly, and within weeks, you will have stunning golden squash blossoms popping up all over the garden.

Also occasionally referred to as zucchini (although zucchini is specific to the green varieties), summer squash is harvested while it is immature. This ensures that the rind is soft and tender, so they don’t need to be cooked to death to enjoy their delicate buttery flavor. Directly sow these seeds from late May through early June for late summer perfection.

Emerald Delight

As the name suggests, this variety is green and has a classic zucchini appearance. They can be ready to harvest in just under 60 days, but if left on the vine longer, they will continue to grow until they are quite large.

Powdery mildew is a common problem when growing squash, but these wonderful veggies are resistant to it, along with several other common diseases.

Early Straightneck

I am partial to yellow summer squash myself. Something about that cheerful color lets me know that I’m definitely satisfying my vitamin C requirement for the day, and don’t forget about vitamin A! These veggies contain plenty of both.

These tender squash are ready to pick in just 45 days for smaller, softer squash, but you can also leave them on the bush for a giant harvest in late summer.

Lettuce

No vegetable garden is complete without a variety of lettuce. Whether you love a nice crisp salad or prefer a buttery lettuce leaf on your burgers, lettuce is an amazingly versatile vegetable that packs a huge nutrient and hydration punch.

Lettuce tends to be susceptible to pests because of its sweet, tender leaves, but with a little extra care, it is a fast-growing crop with great potential.

I love to grow lettuce and other greens in a vertical, stacked planter like the Greenstalk 7 Tier vertical planter. Lettuce turns a vertical planter into a tower of tastiness and takes up much less garden space this way. Direct sowing is recommended for all lettuce varieties.

Little Gem Romaine

Little Gem mini-romaine has the resilience of romaine and the sweetness of a butterhead, all wrapped in a crunchy little package.

This tasty lettuce can be harvested in 20 days and can be harvested repeatedly as all romaine lettuce can. Simply cut the leaves off, and the plant will grow back for a second round of crisp deliciousness.

Black Seeded Simpson Leaf

If you’re looking for a fast-growing variety that has lots of flavor and can handle the heat of summer, Black Seeded Simpson is perfect. This full-sized leaf lettuce variety has striking, frilly leaves and a fun crinkled texture.

Baby greens can be harvested in weeks, and full heads are ready to harvest in just over a month. This is a lettuce that you’ll come back to year after year for its reliability of flavor as well as a high germination rate.

Marvel of Four Seasons Butterhead

You might want to leave this stunning French variety of Butterhead in the ground just for looks. The cranberry-colored leaves are just so beautiful it’s hard to see them go.

However, they are equally as delicious, with a creamy, mild flavor and the tender texture of its type. Keep this variety moist in the summer, and you will have a steady supply of fresh lettuce even in the hottest months.

Rouge d’Hiver Romaine

This is another French heirloom variety that makes a wonderful late summer crop. It has great cold tolerance so that it can be planted well into the cooler months with little fear of freezing.

The crunchy leaves will blush a deeper red in cool weather, making this another fabulous treat to eat and look at.

New Red Fire Leaf

New Red Fire Leaf is one of the most heat-tolerant varieties of leaf lettuce. It is slow to bolt, so it stays flavorful for a long time, and if you forget to harvest right away, you can still avoid your crop turning bitter.

The ruffled leaves are green in the heart with lovely crimson edges that make a great garnish and really dress up a plate.

Cilantro

Love it or hate it, cilantro is a favored herb by many gardeners. Some people feel it tastes a bit soapy, but if you love it, then a good salsa or street taco is incomplete without a healthy dose of this leafy green.

I’m in the latter group, and I love it on chili, in salsa and guacamole, or mixed with red onions on top of tender carnitas.

Cilantro has a long tap root, so direct sowing is recommended and can be done through the end of spring. Germination takes about 5-10 days. I also love to let cilantro bolt in the garden because the flowers are beautiful and a pollinator favorite.

Long-Standing Santo

Long-Standing Santo is a large-leafed variety with a ton of flavor. It is slow to bolt, so you can allow it to mature for a large harvest or take cuttings little by little, and this variety will maintain its flavor and tenderness. This makes a great container plant with attractive, bushy foliage.

Moroccan Cilantro

Cilantro also goes by another name, Coriander, which implies the use of seeds as a spice. Moroccan Cilantro is great for harvesting the seeds as it bolts early, attracts pollinators to help it along, and produces large, flavorful seed pods early in the season. A culinary marvel!

Rainbow Carrots

I’m a sucker for a pretty plate of vegetables, and ever since I discovered rainbow carrots, I can’t resist roasting up a batch of these wonderful root veggies to go with a Sunday pot roast. Rainbow carrots are a blend of various shades of yellow, orange, and white, in a larger size than the average colored carrot. They are marvelously sweet and crunchy.

Give these veggies a bit of shade in the afternoon for a bountiful fall harvest, or wait until late summer to plant, and you’ll have colorful carrots in time for Thanksgiving.

Cantaloupe

Melons are a summertime staple, and cantaloupes are exceptionally easy melons to grow.

These melons perform best when direct seeded, and they need the soil to be at least 70°F for germination to take place.

Cantaloupes need the soil to remain moist during germination, so give them plenty of water in the first week after planting. Cantaloupes have shallow root systems. A thin layer of mulch will help protect vulnerable roots and hold moisture.

Melon vines can be a bit fragile, so try not to jostle them around too much. Many weeds will compete with cantaloupes for nutrients, so try to keep the weeds to a minimum. Mulch will come in handy in this way as well.

Minnesota Midget

This delicious variety produces very sweet and tender melons only 4” in diameter. They are hot weather lovers and take about two months from germination to harvest.

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupes are edible to the rind, with very little waste left over. I always struggle to finish a whole melon in one sitting, but these sweet little melons are the perfect size!

Final Thoughts

If you haven’t gotten a head start on your seed germinating indoors this year, there is no need to worry about a less-than-fantastic summer vegetable harvest. With so many tasty veggies and fruits that prefer to be directly sown, you can still get started on time and have a bountiful harvest throughout the summer months and into the fall. Try some of these delicious and beautiful varieties for a successful and flavorful vegetable garden.

Avocados increasingly confirm their nutritional power in scientific studies of all kinds, always as one of the pieces of gear in a healthy diet. And of course, without atavisms or healings involved, as some pseudo-nutritionists preach, its role in preventing cardiovascular disease and some chronic diseases that can lead to an unhealthy lifestyle has been demonstrated. 

A product a few years ago was only seen in gourmet greengrocers. Today it is in the humblest markets and large hypermarkets, almost always above the price of olive oil. In Mexico, they call it the “green gold”. In other places, “the fruit of life” and its producers want to classify it as a “universal fruit”. In culinary circles, they say that it has conquered the gastronomy of the four cardinal points, and in the jargon of nutritionists, it is considered a superfood.

But what about in the scenario of disease prevention and health promotion? Avocados make good crumbs with nuts and olive oil, which have similar benefits in the Mediterranean diet. Still, they have caught on in consumers’ taste before in the dietary recommendations of health centres. 

This same week, a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the scientific journal of the American Heart Association (AHA), went around the world, confirming the role of avocados in reducing cardiovascular risk. Among the conclusions: eating two or more servings of avocados a week is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), as is eating avocado instead of foods with saturated fats, such as butter, cheese or processed meats.

This study supports a positive association between higher avocado consumption and fewer cardiovascular events, which has not been demonstrated in large prospective samples but in small clinical trials so far.

The research is part of two large US prospective studies that have been running for 30 years. The Nurses’ Health Study includes more than 68,000 women (ages 30 to 55), while the Harvard University Health Professionals Follow-up Study includes more than 41,000 men ages 40 to 75.

9,185 coronary heart disease events and 5,290 strokes have been documented over 30 years of follow-up. The researchers periodically evaluated the participants’ diet using food frequency questionnaires and one of their avocados. To calculate the intake, it was determined that one serving was equal to half an avocado or half a cup. 

The main findings of this research, simplifying, are:

According to the researchers, these results are easily applicable to the care routine of health professionals, who could recommend to patients the substitution of some foods with saturated fats, such as butter, for fresh avocado. When this fruit is ripe, it is creamy and easy to spread on toast, prepare it in guacamole or even make an egg-free mayonnaise. There is a wide range of possibilities to introduce it in sandwiches and salads.

Unsaturated fats of plant origin

The main author of the study, Lorena Pacheco, a postdoctoral researcher in Nutrition at the TH Chan School of Public Health (Harvard University), explained to CuídatePlus that this work has important implications for public health “since it provides more evidence that the intake of unsaturated fats of vegetable origin can improve the quality of the diet and is an important component in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in the general population”. She further stresses that it is the first large prospective study to “examine and generate evidence on the longitudinal association between avocado consumption and CVD events.”

Given the great impact of the study results, Pacheco warns that avocados, although beneficial, should be consumed in the context of a balanced diet because they are not a “magic bullet” in the dietary pattern. In other words, taking a lot of avocados but consuming an excess of saturated fat would counteract its effects. “Apart from being a food rich in nutrients, it is also rich in calories, so combining avocados with chips, snacks, chips or the like compromises the benefits that the fruit may bring. In most cases, when you have guacamole or similar spreads, it’s easy to overconsume them, which adds to the total calories,” he says, recommending that you always estimate portions. 

On the “secrets” of the nutritional profile that promotes the cardioprotective value of this fruit, the nutritionist lists its main favourable food compounds, which include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (healthy fats), vitamins, minerals, soluble fibre, vegetable proteins, phytosterols and polyphenols. “The main monounsaturated fatty acid in avocados is oleic acid, and it is suggested that it helps reduce hypertension, inflammation and insulin sensitivity. In addition, plant sterols and soluble fibre can favourably affect lipid profiles and help lower “bad cholesterol.”

More Primary Health Benefits

On the other hand, a few months ago, Nutrients (2021) published the first comprehensive review on the different health benefits of consuming fresh avocados was published in Nutrients (2021), covering 19 clinical trials, 5 observational studies and analyses of biological mechanisms.   

The review’s authors do research for the consulting firm Nutrition Science Solutions and the Avocado Nutrition Center (United States), studying the Hass variety, the world market leader. These avocados are characterized by dark green wrinkled skin, which turns almost black or purplish when ripe. In Spain, they are also the most demanded among the ten varieties grown.

When grouping the results of the different studies, four primary effects of avocado on health have been confirmed:

“The health effects of Hass avocado are best demonstrated when consumed in a healthy diet plan such as the Mediterranean diet,” they conclude in this study, coinciding with the previously mentioned Harvard study.

The unique combination of nutrients

Furthermore, the same researchers have identified a unique combination of four nutritional characteristics of Hass avocado that would support these health benefits. 

Nutritional composition 

A serving of fresh Hass avocado (50 g or 1/3 of a medium piece) contains 80 kcal, 3.4 g fibre, 44.5 μg folate, 0.73 mg pantothenic acid, 85 μg copper, 10, 5 μg of vitamin K, 254 mg of potassium and 4 mg of sodium. A serving of Hass avocado contains:

According to some comparative studies, other varieties of avocados differ in their nutritional profile.

Banana Cake with Caramel Icing

I made this for firm the other day as well as I ‘d truthfully need to state that it was the most effective banana cake I have actually ever before had. I liked the wet, fragile appearance together with the somewhat abundant taste. Among my American visitors from Indiana have to have acquired 5 extra pounds from your cake (lol)!

Since banana cake mix is TOO EXOTIC for this component of the globe, I had to make this cake from scrape. A lot of the moment, I’m fortunate to locate normal vanilla or delicious chocolate cake mix! Many thanks for aiding to make my the other day’s supper celebration a big success.

P.S. My scrape variation is published listed below your initial dish.

Hi I made this last evening to consume some bananas- from items of 3 various dishes- it ended up so great it’s my brand-new preferred treat. Would certainly be fantastic for a celebration- makes a large frying pan.

2 big extremely ripe bananas, mashed
1 (18.25 ounce) plan banana cake mix
1 tsp cooking soft drink
1/2 mug butter, softened
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla remove
1/2 mug coconut (optional).
1 mug cut pecans.

Preheat stove to 350 levels F. Grease and also powder a 9 x 13-inch frying pan.

Mash bananas with a fork, reserved.

In a big dish, incorporate cake mix and also cooking soft drink. Include bananas, softened butter, buttermilk, eggs and also vanilla.

Include coconut as well as pecans. Put right into ready frying pan. Cook in the preheated stove for 30 to 35 mins, or up until facility of cake bounce back when gently touched.

Sugar Icing.
1 1/4 mugs granulated sugar.
3/4 mug loaded brownish sugar.
1 mug vaporized milk.
1/2 mug butter.

Poke openings in cake and also put some on while still warm. Proceed to cool down the remainder and also when great as well as enlarged, spread it on top of cake.

Notes: fine to utilize routine milk as opposed to buttermilk. I prepared topping for regarding 10-12 mins above, it looked divided till defeated. It does not need to be exact-it makes a sugar polish kind icing.

Cookin’ Dad Scratch Version.
2 big really ripe bananas, mashed.
2 1/2 mugs versatile flour.
1 3/4 mugs granulated sugar (utilized much less sugar.
due to the fact that polish is really pleasant).
1 tbsp cooking powder.
1/2 mug plus 2 tbsps reducing.
1 tsp cooking soft drink.
1/2 mug butter, softened.
3 eggs.
3/4 mug buttermilk.
1 tsp vanilla remove.
1 tsp butter essence (could not locate banana remove).

Sort flour, sugar, cooking powder as well as cooking soft drink with each other as well as incorporate, being certain to blend well. Include bananas, softened butter, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and also butter essences. Cook in the preheated stove for 30 to 35 mins, or up until facility of cake springtimes back when gently touched.

Sugar Icing.
1 1/4 mugs granuated sugar.
3/4 mug loaded brownish sugar.
1 mug vaporized milk.
1/2 mug butter.
1 tsp vanilla essence * (CD enhancement).

Poke openings in cake as well as put some on while still warm. Proceed to cool down the remainder as well as when awesome and also enlarged, spread it on top of cake.

I made this for firm the other day as well as I ‘d truthfully have to state that it was the ideal banana cake I have actually ever before had. I had to make this cake from scrape due to the fact that banana cake mix is TOO EXOTIC for this component of the globe. In a huge dish, incorporate cake mix and also cooking soft drink. Proceed to cool down the remainder and also when trendy as well as enlarged, spread it on top of cake.

Proceed to cool down the remainder and also when awesome as well as enlarged, spread it on top of cake.

In a surprising twist, the Chelsea City Council unanimously voted to withdraw their contract offer to Troy Bell for the Interim City Manager position.

On May 8th, the Chelsea City Council directed the city staff to initiate contract negotiations with Troy Bell of Muskegon Heights to fill the Interim City Manager position. The job offer was contingent on a successful contract agreement and background check.

At its May 15th meeting, the council voted to withdraw its offer to Mr. Bell. Comments from the council alluded to the confidential background check as the reason for giving them pause.

Councilmember Ruddock remained firm in his support for Mr. Bell, saying, “Mr. Bell wrote in his very letter to us that there are newspaper articles about him. And before I ever set one idea to this, I did my own research on this, and I found out that most of what’s been written in the newspaper is not true. One newspaper actually had to publish a correction to what they wrote about this man who’s sitting in the room, by the way. Thank you. I came to the conclusion on my own research, that this person is eminently qualified to lead our city for an interim period.”

“I don’t disagree with Mr. Ruddock in tone,” said Councilmember Feeney. “One thing I will say is as a city over the last year, we’ve been through a lot of tunnels, and I would just as soon not go through anymore. So, there’s an aspect of this where I respectfully disagree. That may be a safer course of action would be appropriate.”

Councilmember Mehuron echoed Feeney, adding, “I feel that we need to think on behalf of our city staff and our general public. We need to think in terms of solid experiential background, with good performance, and we need to think in terms of reliability, and honesty, and no drama, but rather pragmatic decision making. We really need that at this juncture.”

Councilmember Keaton supported a job offer to Mr. Bell, citing him as well-qualified and emphasizing it was only an interim position. Councilmember Iannelli commented that the reliability of third-party references could be shaky, especially if some might be harboring grudges. Mr. Iannelli believed the council should proceed with a job offer to Bell.

Mayor Pacheco told the council she believed all three candidates interviewed last week were qualified for the position. As already stated by other council members, her concern for the stability of the staff by avoiding as much turmoil as possible persuaded her to go in a different direction.

The council voted 6-0 to withdraw the job offer to Mr. Bell. Councilmember Wiseley was not physically present to vote.

The council then voted 6-0 to direct city staff to proceed with contract negotiations contingent upon a background check with Elke Doom. Ms. Doom was the applicant receiving the next highest score after Mr. Bell in the council’s ranked-choice voting last week.

The council then voted to reengage Walsh Municipal Services to aid in a search for a permanent city manager.

| YOUNG VOICES

By Ariana Calderón, Nyelli Ceja and Estrella Zarate-Pacheco 

Imagine attending high school and struggling to keep up: You have a hard time paying attention to class, you fall asleep, you’re not turning in homework, ditching class or you’re just plain truant. Maybe you’re not motivated. Or maybe something else is preventing you from feeling motivated, and you don’t know what it is.

In Gonzales, a small city along the Salinas Valley some 130 miles south of San Francisco, members of the town’s Youth Council decided to find out if mental health was an issue among their peers. In 2019, they began planning a project to learn more. 

“At the beginning of every semester, the youth commissioners start talking about the projects they are going to focus on,” said Angela Rodriguez, a former Youth Council member now in her first year at UC Berkeley. “There were a lot of project ideas, but we saw a common theme: we were focused on mental health. And we were serious about it when COVID exacerbated everyone’s mental state. It made the project even more important, which pushed our efforts.”

Now in its third year, the Gonzales youth mental health project has gained attention statewide for its innovative approach to engaging young residents in civic matters. Its research has been published in the School Psychology Review of the National Association of School Psychologists. The project earned a  Ruth Vreeland Award for Engaging Youth in City Government from the League of California Cities, and it led to a partnership between the city and the Gonzales Unified School District to fund a social worker to assist students. 

“I was blown away,” said Luke Naegle, 16, a Gonzales Youth Commissioner, on his reaction when he found out about the award. “I was like, ‘Wow. We’re finally being recognized for our hard work and our effort.’ It was an astonishing moment for us… It’s paying off, and it really motivated us to keep moving forward.”

Launched in 2015, the Gonzales Youth Council is a unique project in Monterey County in that its members are deeply involved in city affairs that affect young people. The Youth Council has about 20 members, two of which also serve as commissioners for the City Council, representing the youth voice. Although the mental health project has given the Council the most acclaim, it’s not the only one that has earned praise. The Youth Council promoted “No Straws November” to urge restaurants to stop handing out plastic straws. The council also advocated modifying penalties for underage drinking; for increased academic resources for students; and it’s been the driving force behind the Teen Innovation Center, which received a $5 million seed grant from the California State Senate. 

“We are the voice for young students in Gonzales,” said Anixia Davila, a 16-year-old junior who also serves on the Youth Council. “We take in or hear problems in our community, and we meet when we can on Thursdays, to essentially address these problems and see, ‘Do we want to take on these problems to fix them?’ But we also have specific action projects that we do each term or year.”

For the mental health project, students worked with Jennifer Lovell, a psychology professor at California State University Monterey Bay. Together, they designed the survey, which has questions such as “On a scale of one to five, how often do you feel stress?” Youth Council members also recruited youth to respond to the survey. They analyzed the results, shared them and later advocated for change.  

The results were alarming. Of the 374 respondents, more than half indicated they were at risk of anxiety or depression. Two-thirds said they were falling behind academically as they struggled with online learning while having to help to take care of younger siblings. Many appeared to be confused with the term “counselor,” believing that it solely referred to school counseling and not someone you go to for mental health issues. Armed with this data, the Youth Council began advocating for increased support. 

“The project increased access to vital mental health resources for Gonzales youth, such as an additional social worker, while also amplifying the issue of youth mental health and encouraging conversations around the topic of mental health,” said Carmen Gil, a strategic partnerships director with the City of Gonzales. 

Marie*, a junior at Gonzales High School, said she felt relief when she first received the survey. 

“I had been struggling at the time, and of course wanted to participate, not only for myself but for other people, to represent them and show that mental health is an issue that’s been going on a lot since the pandemic,” Marie said. “It kind of made me have this sort of like a ray of hope, because it showed that my fellow high school students are like trying to get it through to everybody else in the community that a lot of students are struggling. It made me feel like we have a voice in what’s going on, and the adults are able to understand what we’re going through and the kinds of difficulties we’re having. I just think that’s really remarkable.” 

Angela Rodríguez, who has also taken part in Voices of Monterey Bay’s Young Voices Media Project, also had a chance to see some small changes.

“It’s very easy to joke around mental health” in high school, she said. “I saw a rise in a more serious attitude towards it. In my senior year, there were some incidents where people were not treated as fairly and I saw very mature handling of these situations. Students who had that knowledge of (how) mental health works, they were way more understanding. They were little changes, but I was glad to see them.”

The Gonzales Youth Council is working on the second phase of the mental health project, one that helps document the changes since the pandemic. A total of 240 students have answered the second survey, said Youth Commissioner Sherlyn Flores-Magadan.

“We wanted to see the difference, if these students who answered in 2020, how are they adjusting back to normal,” she said. 

According to the preliminary results, there’s a significant decline in the respondents who could be at risk for anxiety or depression. “It may be because of the resources,” Flores-Magadan said. 

“We are going to present it to the school district: this is what we got, this is what we need to support us,” she said. “I feel this project will continue. It won’t stop there. The Youth Council has been eager to work to see what resources our students need.”

Claudia Meléndez Salinas contributed to this report. 

*Not her real name

FEATURED IMAGE | From Left to right: Rosa Acevedo Duran (CSUMB Undergrad, Research Assistant), Aliyah Castillo (Gonzales Youth Council – Ambassador), Sherlyn Flores (Gonzales Youth Council – Youth Commissioner), and Kimberly Smith (CSUMB Undergrad, Research Assistant).during their presentation of the Youth Action Research Project on Mental Health at CSUMB’s Spring Showcase in April. | Provided photo.

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