In 2021, Nuestra Comunidad danced non-stop. In 2022, it looks to continue to promote body movement and self-love but also new programs dedicated to teenagers. The northern Sonoma County nonprofit was founded to help the community prepare for emergency situations, but has actively worked to introduce other programs focusing on personal wellness as well. All of them lead to having a sense of community in the Latinx population.
Alma Bowen, executive director, is working on a pilot for a program called Phoenix Rising. This program will focus on teenagers from high schools where they will learn about first responder job opportunities and be introduced to the option of one day becoming one. Bowen was a dispatcher for almost 20 years and was the only Latinx woman at her department when she worked. Because of that, she hopes to inspire and motivate teens to see there are other career options to choose from, such as the one she followed.
The beginning of the pilot will start at the end of January. So far, teenagers from Healdsburg High School ranging from sophomores, juniors and seniors will participate. The hope is for Cloverdale teenagers to attend as well.
Bowen said that a program idea can spark wherever they see a need in the community — such as COVID-19 help, disaster preparedness and how to teach the community how to properly call 911. During her active dispatcher years, Bowen soon realized many people did not call for services when an emergency occurred because of fear. Because of that she advocates for a better understanding of how to make calls to such services. The project is called “Project Lifeline.”
When collaboration is possible, the organization has also given out home test kits for COVID-19. The Sonoma County Health Department provided them with the kits to be distributed. Nuestra Comunidad is on their list whenever supplies are available. They received 40 packages with two kits. Coming soon, weekly Zoom sessions will be available in English and Spanish to learn about new information regarding the pandemic.
Nutrición con intención and Juntos
Back in October, the organization focused on promoting exercise and mindful eating. Nutrición con intención is a six-week program where people learn about eating properly. Juntos is a program where free Zumba classes are provided in Healdsburg with complimentary tumbling classes for children. The pair of classes allow parents to have someone take care of their children while they exercise.
In Cloverdale, free Zumba classes are also offered. All of this with the purpose to engage community members and leave them with a sense of feeling good.
In Cloverdale, Comunidad Activa is a free Zumba class hosted two nights a week at 7:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesdays at the Cloverdale Grange.
“It is open to anyone who wants to come, any ability and any member of the community. We don’t exclude anyone. We join as a community to get somewhere in common which is taking care of ourselves, self love and pertaining to the same space. We are also creating ties outside the classes because we see the benefits of these people getting together. They see each other outside and now have something in common,” said Gris Alonso-Soto in Spanish.
Alonso-Soto added, not only do people get to know each other but if a disaster happens, they can now identify one another and help each other.
“Create those community ties or strengthen them — that is the biggest intention of Comunidad Activa,” she said. Classes in Healdsburg are on Thursdays at 10 a.m. at TCElite 44 B Mill St.
“We take care of your children but they also learn about cheerleading techniques. The instructors are giving instructions and giving access to classes like these which they usually would not have access to because of time or costs. All of those barriers are the ones we want to get rid of,” she said.
Bowen added in the first month, they saw a total of more than 300 participants. The main purpose is strengthening the community and teaching the Latinx community to take care of themselves. From her perspective, mental and physical health are interconnected and being healthy in both can help greatly.
“Me and Gris believe over time this creates a huge difference on people and every family. This is an effort to create resilience,” Bowen said.
“We have witnessed that the access to the programs is so important. Taking away the barrier of cost, distance, having to maybe drive to Santa Rosa or other cities to access programs like ours. Those are some of the biggest advantages people saw and it is something we are proud of, cost is not an impediment to access those benefits,” Alonso-Soto said.
Brenda, a Healdsburg resident, found out about the Zumba classes through Alonso-Soto. She’s attended class weekly since they started. She said she enjoys attending because she gets distracted and feels more energized but also because her 4-year-old daughter enjoys her tumbling classes.
“I told her we were going to go to the classes and she got excited. Since the first time she enjoyed it. I think it is really good what they do, I had never participated in a nonprofit organization activity before, the fact that they provide exercise and look after the community, I like it a lot,” she said in Spanish.
“My daughter also motivates me to go because she really likes it too,” she said.
Alma Vargas from Cloverdale, has been attending classes with Alonso-Soto for six years. She introduced her to the nutrition program.
“She is a person who supports people a lot and I loved the way she motivated me to go to Zumba. In the nutrition class she taught us how to do portions, that we do not need to do diets but eat accordingly, we got measuring spoons,” Vargas said in Spanish.
She also received information on how to prepare meals and portion her plate. Vargas added they would be asked how they were doing during the week mentally and emotionally.
“We were taught to process our emotions and do better, I felt very comfortable. I enjoyed those six weeks and all the classmates. I can tell they help the community a lot and on some occasions they give diapers away and they are expensive,” she said.
“One time they gave us COVID tests and in general the free Zumba, there is no excuse to not go, it is a great help. They are great people, I would like for people to get inspired and attend,” she said.
Zumba classes have been postponed until Feb. 11 due to COVID-19 safety measures.
