Interview with Chris Covington

Published on VoiceWaves Website February 4, 2013

http://www.voicewaves.org/2013/02/the-peace-builders-chris-covington/

Twenty-one years old, Long Beach City College Public Policy and Communications major Chris Covington, is a man about town. Hundreds of people in Long Beach have met or come across this young man.

While he is VoiceWaves’ first spotlight for our series of Peace Builders for the Season for Nonviolence, this isn’t the first time Covington is being recognized. Just earlier this year, he was named a Youth Honoree for the 2013 Martin Luther King., Jr PeaceMaker Awards.

A graduate of Reid High School, Chris currently serves as a Building Bridges Youth Coordinator at the California Conference for Equality and Justice, as an Intern at the Miguel Contreras Foundation and as youth organizer at Khmer Girls in Action. In addition Chris is Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for Building Healthy Communities of Long Beach and serves on the boards of The Latin American Community Center and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation. His past experience includes serving as an Administrative Assistant for the office of Long Beach City Councilman Dee Andrews.

As you can see, his resume is pretty impressive and he’s always working on adding more to it.

Raised by a single mother on welfare, Chris has overcome various obstacles to become a proactive citizen within the Long Beach community. He plans on transferring to to California State University, Long Beach and hopes to become a City Manager someday.

Long Beach Interfaith Breakfast

Published on The VoiceWaves Website on February 16, 2013

http://www.voicewaves.org/2013/02/ccej-celebrates-healing-and-forgiveness-after-violence/

Last Tuesday the California Center for Equality and Justice (CCEJ) held their 22^nd annual Interfaith Prayer Breakfast at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Co-hosted by Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster and Reverend Sunshine Daye of the Revealing Center, the event brought together groups of various religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds to discuss how to use peaceful means to solve violent conflicts within their communities.

Giving the keynote speech was Azim Khamisa, CEO and Chairman of The Toriq Khamisa Foundation, which uses community service programs, education programs, and mentorship programs in order to stop youth violence.

Back in 1995, Khamisa faced a terrible tragedy when his only son Tariq was shot and killed  by a gang member. The gang member that killed his son, then 14-year old Tony Hicks, was the youngest person in California state history to be charged for murder as an adult and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Instead of wallowing in grief and anger or cheering for the sentence that was given to his son’s murderer, Khamisa did the unthinkable and forgave Hicks for his son’s death. He is even advocating for Hicks to be released early and have him work at the foundation.

The CCEJ is a human relations organization that is dedicated to ending racism, bigotry, and bias within the United States.

“Forgiveness is the key to peace,” said Sunshine Daye, spiritual director of The Healing Center in Long Beach. “The more we forgive, the more we really open our hearts up to accept one another in our divine humanity”.

The video above highlights Daye’s reflections and others at the event. For more information about CCEJ, go HERE.

Sex Abuse Education in Long Beach

Published on VoiceWaves website on March 6, 2013

http://www.voicewaves.org/2013/03/bringing-sex-abuse-education-to-schools-in-long-beach/

Proponents for sex-abuse education, including “Erin’s Law” sponsor Erin Merryn, came together to speak about the issue at the Long Beach Memorial Hospital last Friday.

“Many of my constituents, especially young women, are at-risk for abuse and human trafficking,” said Long Beach Councilmember Dee Andrews, who invited . “This will be an incredible opportunity to discuss how community leaders can modernize and implement Erin’s Law, as well as make a point that the City of Long Beach is obligated to protect our children from all types of harm and violence.”

Merryn was sexually assaulted when she was just six years old and faced sexual abuse at the hands of a teenage cousin from the ages of 11 to 13. Erin’s Law, which just passed in Merryn’s home state of Illinois, requires schools to teach children how to protect themselves against sexual predators and the difference between safe and unsafe touching as well as the difference between safe and unsafe secrets.

Currently, Erin’s Law has been passed in six states and is being introduced and voted on in 10 states. Merryn hopes to eventually get the law enacted into all 50 states.

Other speakers at the event included Angela Rose, Founder and Executive Director of the national nonprofit Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE) and PAVE Ambassador and Real World star Sarah Rice. The video above highlights Merryn and Rice’s views on sexual abuse education.

For more information on Erin’s Law, go HERE.

An Interview with Palacio Editor Andrea Sulsona

Published on VoiceWaves website April 3, 2013

http://www.voicewaves.org/2013/04/a-magazine-bridging-two-worlds-a-talk-with-palacio-editor-andrea-sulsona/

While growing up in Long Beach, Andrea Sulsona belonged to two different worlds.

At school she spoke English with her friends, teachers, and classmates, but at home she only spoke Spanish. Raised by her grandmother, who didn’t speak English, Sulsona became a professional translator at a young age. Like many young people who are raised by immigrants, she had to do things like translate mail that was in English for her grandmother and be an advocate for trips to the doctor.

“I was very good at navigating between the two languages”, said Sulsona, who is one-woman show at Palacio de Long Beach magazine, the only bilingual Spanish magazine in the city. About 41 percent of the population in Long Beach identifies as Latino, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

While Sulsona works as a full-time social worker and mother, she has also somehow found time to publish Palacio, a free full-scale glossy bi-monthly magazine.

This experience of growing up bilingual is what inspired Sulsona to create the magazine that is published in both English and Spanish.

The magazine, which was first published in June 2009, prints 10,000 copies every two months and is distributed in over 300 locations. It’s target audience is families and focuses mainly on health and wellness, the environment, and the arts.

“I felt it that it would be nice to be able to provide something in both languages so that a story or information or resources can be shared between generations like the way I grew up,” said Sulsona, who grew up in Long Beach.

In the video above, Sulsona shares what fuels her to publish the magazine as a labor of love and what she believes it brings to the Long Beach community.

For more information, or to view the magazine go HERE.

Crustic Artisan Breads

Published on Long Beach Post website August 15, 2012

http://www.lbpost.com/business/2000000828-crustic-breads-delivers-fresh-loaves-to-doorsteps#.Uc-uh7TvyfQ

Crustic is a brand-new artisan bread delivery club based in Long Beach that intends to change the way you experience bread by delivering freshly baked artisan breads made with organic, sustainable, and local ingredients directly to the doors of its members.

“I started up Crustic because I wanted to make sustainably-produced artisan bread accessible to everyone,” said founder Madelaine Ambrus, a lifelong native of Long Beach and an alumnus of Wilson Classical High School.

The inspiration for an artisan bread club came from Ambrus’s intense cravings for good bread after she spent a year teaching preschoolers and middle school students in South Korea—a country where noodles are everywhere but bread is scarce.

“I was in South Korea teaching at a private school,” said Ambrus. “I would say two thirds of my day was teaching preschool students and the rest of my day was teaching middle school.”

Though she came back from South Korea in November 2011 with some savings to help start her business, Ambrus’s parents lent her money to help make her dream into a reality. Her father, who is from Hungary, and her mother, who is from Austria, had introduced their daughter to freshly baked bread at a very young age.

“I’ve always grown up eating really good bread because my parents are European and so we would go the little German deli and when I traveled to Europe with them, I would always have fresh high quality bread,” Ambrus said. “I’ve realized that that’s something that people here don’t have access to on a daily basis.”

Crustic is a brand-new artisan bread delivery club based in Long Beach that intends to change the way you experience bread by delivering freshly baked artisan breads made with organic, sustainable, and local ingredients directly to the doors of its members.

“I started up Crustic because I wanted to make sustainably-produced artisan bread accessible to everyone,” said founder Madelaine Ambrus, a lifelong native of Long Beach and an alumnus of Wilson Classical High School.

The inspiration for an artisan bread club came from Ambrus’s intense cravings for good bread after she spent a year teaching preschoolers and middle school students in South Korea—a country where noodles are everywhere but bread is scarce.

“I was in South Korea teaching at a private school,” said Ambrus. “I would say two thirds of my day was teaching preschool students and the rest of my day was teaching middle school.”

Though she came back from South Korea in November 2011 with some savings to help start her business, Ambrus’s parents lent her money to help make her dream into a reality. Her father, who is from Hungary, and her mother, who is from Austria, had introduced their daughter to freshly baked bread at a very young age.

“I’ve always grown up eating really good bread because my parents are European and so we would go the little German deli and when I traveled to Europe with them, I would always have fresh high quality bread,” Ambrus said. “I’ve realized that that’s something that people here don’t have access to on a daily basis.”

Made with organic flours, nuts, dried fruits, and herbs, and local raw honey (which is used as a sweetener in an effort to stay away from processed sugars), each Crustic loaf is packaged in a 100% recycled container and hung from bread club members’ doorknobs upon delivery.

Consumers sign up for three-month memberships on Crustic Bread's website under one of two options: one having bread delivered to their home once a month for $72, or two deliveries a month for $132.

While customers have a choice between white, rosemary, garlic, sourdough, asiago, light rye, oatmeal honey wheat, or almond coconut chocolate for their basic monthly bread, the specialty bread of the month is always different. June’s was the Double Jalapeno Jack bread and July’s specialty bread was the Apricot Sage.

Crustic is almost entirely a one-woman operation, with Ambrus doing everything herself, from designing the website, doing the social media on Facebook and Pinterest, and even delivering the bread to people’s homes.

“As of right now we are only doing a 25-30 mile radius of Long Beach,” she said. “Once we finish baking the bread for whoever we are delivering to that day, we go and deliver the bread directly to their door within three to five hours”.

With Crustic, Ambrus wants to do more than create a successful company. She also hopes of helping her home community by donating one loaf of bread to a homeless shelter in Long Beach for every Crustic club member, with the intention of paying it forward to those who could use a little help.

“We think it is important to be a triple-bottom-line company, one that always keeps people, the planet and profit in mind,” said Ambrus. “We are passionate about what goes into our breads, but we also care about the greater impact Crustic is having on our community. We want it to be a wholeheartedly positive one.”

Affordable Care Act

Published on VoiceWaves website May 13, 2013

http://www.voicewaves.org/2013/05/the-basics-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-affordable-care-act/

The city of Long Beach is expected to greatly benefit from the Affordable Care Act when the law goes into full effect next year.

Around 22 percent of the city’s population does not have health insurance, according to the US Census.

The ACA is projected to expand coverage to almost 95,000 people living in Long Beach, either through federal subsidies or Medi-Cal, which is California’s version of Medicaid.

Latinos are expected to mostly benefit from the subsidies and Medi-Cal expansion, with about 32 percent of them currently uninsured within the city of Long Beach.

Although the Medi-Cal expansion and federal subsidies don’t go into effect until January, several reforms have already taken place under The ACA. Here are some key details:

• Currently children under 19 cannot be denied health coverage and can stay on their parents plan until they are 26.
• Co-payments are no longer required for very vital services such as flu shots and cervical cancer screenings.
• Adults now have access to health care even if they have a pre-existing condition.
• If someone is denied coverage from a health insurance program, that person can take that denial letter and can apply for the federally run health insurance program which is called the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP).

“It’s not cheap, but it allows you to buy insurance without getting denied,” said Anthony Ly, program coordinator at the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services Medi-Cal and Healthy Families Outreach Program.

Starting January 1, nearly all Americans will be required to purchase health insurance or else face certain penalties when filing their taxes. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to break your bank.

Buying health insurance will be a lot more affordable than it is now, thanks to subsidies people will be able to receive from the federal government, which will be directly sent to the person’s or family’s health insurance company.

The amount of subsidies that individuals will be eligible for is entirely dependent on household income. For example, a family of four making between $32,499 to $47,100 annually can expect to receive the highest amount of subsidies from the government.

Any individual or family with a household income of more than $94,200 of the federal poverty level will not be eligible for federal subsidies.

Starting next year, Medi-Cal eligibility will be expanded to over 2 million Californians who are at or below of the federal poverty level. Those who qualify must show proof that they are a documented worker who has resided in California for at least five years. Legal immigrants who have lived in the United States for less than five years will be eligible for federal subsidies towards private insurance.

“The ACA is federally funded, which is why there is no coverage for undocumented workers”, Ly said.

Non-English speakers living in Long Beach can come to the city’s Department of Health and Human Services or contact them at (562) 570-8122.

Check out the video below to listen to local healthcare officials speak about the ACA. For more information about the ACA, go HERE.

Karley Cable Profile

Published on The Long Beach Post website June 28, 2013

http://www.lbpost.com/life/2000002517-local-teen-author-karley-cable-readies-for-second-book-release#.Uc-sCLTvyfQ

When she was just 12 years-old, Long Beach’s Karley Cable self-published Raisin: A Doggie’s Tale, a 52-page picture book that was inspired by the adoption of her pet pug Raisin.

Now four years later, the teen author has just finished writing Blood, Sweat, and Cheers, a 352-page coming-of-age teen novel about a young girl's high school experience.

“I encouraged her to draw on her own experiences,” said Karley’s mother Katy Cable, who co-wrote the book. Cheers is about Chandler Clark, a fictional famous teen actress and model living the life of luxury in Orange County. 

“[The character] has to juggle high school with acting and modeling,” said Karley, who is an actress and model herself, having appeared in Arrested Development and 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter as well as commercials for Macy’s, Sprint and Disney. 

During the novel, Chandler’s world turns upside down when she doesn’t make the cheerleading squad, which Karley says was inspired by herself not making Wilson High School’s team.

“I tried out for cheer my freshman year with all my friends and was the only one that didn’t make it,” said Karley.

Cheers—which also deals with very pressing issues for teenagers such as bullying, suicide and social media—was entirely self-published thanks to some family friends who own printing companies. It took Karley and her mother a year and a half to write, and was finished in April.

“If I found any free time I would just write it because I enjoy writing”, said Karley of how she juggled writing with school. “Since I wrote the Raisin book when I was in 7th grade, I thought it would be fun just to write another one.”

The young novelist plans on not only releasing the book next spring and putting it on her resume for college applications and scholarships, but is also hoping to bring Cheers to the small screen.

“We’re going to show it to a few producers and see if we can turn it into a TV show,” said Karley, who plans on continue pursuing acting during and after college. 

Despite being only 16 years old, Karley Cable already has advice for anyone who is considering writing a book.

“I say follow your heart and write what you want,” she said. “I think if you have a good imagination you can write a really good book.”

To purchase Raisin: A Doggie's Tale, visit www.amazon.com.

Long Beach Kombucha Company

Published on Long Beach Post website January 4, 2013

http://www.lbpost.com/business/2000001620-long-beach-s-first-kombucha-company-experiments-with-fermented-flavors#.Uc-sQ7TvyfQ

Jay and Jodine West are not your typical married couple. They are the proud owners of the Fine Feathers Kombucha Company, which is the only Long Beach company that makes and distributes the sweetened and fermented black tea known as kombucha and distributes it to several local stores and restaurants, including Steamed on 3rd Street and Viento y Agua in Belmont Heights.

Kombucha is a beverage that has gained popularity among health gurus and its status as an all-natural vegan beverage has only increased its demand. Advocates say that the fermented drink—which usually contains less than .5%ABV and is technically classified as non-alcoholic—cleanses the body with its acidity content. Kombucha, like beer, can be brewed at home or in a production facility. The Wests' kombucha company grew out of their kitchen in Portland, Oregon, where they met and fell in love years ago.

Being environmentally conscious, the Wests have continued one Portland tradition since moving to Long Beach—they distribute their Kombucha by bike rather than by car.

"When people hear that we do bike deliveries it gives people a chance to think about why we would choose a bike over a car" said Jodine. "Since Long Beach is trying to be the most bike-friendly city, we're hoping more people will see that model and try to implement it.

Some of the Kombucha the Wests have created include ginger, kiwi-lime, grapefruit, carrot and Kombukee, which is a combination of coffee and kombucha. The pair is always experimenting, creating test batches and interesting seasonal flavors such as the cranberry apple ginger kombucha Jodine made for a recent holiday party.

There are few companies that produce kombucha commercially and the ones that do have a limited selection of options. Fine Feathers began as a way for the Wests to produce something not only local and organic, but also to avoid the steep costs of off-the-shelf bottles of the beverage.

"We were tired of buying it because it gets gets expensive so we decided to make it ourselves" said Jodine. "We would give it to our friends to try and they all liked it and then some people were telling us, 'Let us give you some to buy.' And it was like Whoa! We could sell this? It just kind of grew organically from there".

Unlike most other small business owners the Wests did not take a huge loan from a bank to start their company. Instead, they put their own money into the business, letting it grow at its own pace.

Besides the fact that Jodine is originally from Long Beach, the couple decided to move to Southern California because it's better for Kombucha making. The yeast and bacteria culture that allows the beverage to naturally ferment does better in places where it does not get too cold.

"The warmer weather contributes to a more stable fermentation" said Jay. "Kombucha becomes easier when you can maintain a warm room rather than have to heat it which is something we had to do in Portland".

As for their responsibilities, Jay runs the day to day operations of Fine Feathers, which includes doing most of the botteling and fermenting. He has another job, so he does a lot of the bookkeeping and social media and working on the website. "But we collaborate on everything," says Jay. "There's not one decision made by one person."

The Wests see enormous benefits in running their small business, both for themselves and for the local Long Beach Community.

"There's nothing more rewarding than seeing someone pop open a bottle of Kombucha that I bottled," said Jay.

"For me it's making something helpful for people and that it's good for their mind and body" said Jodine. "That makes me proud."

Fine Feathers Kombucha can be purchased directly from the Wests or at a selection of stores citywide. Visit their website for more information.

Seal Beach Animal Care Center 25th Anniversary

Published on Long Beach Post website June 7, 2013

http://www.lbpost.com/life/2000002405-seal-beach-animal-care-center-celebrates-25-years#.Uc-saLTvyfQ

An extravagant event took place in Long Beach last Sunday night. Couples danced as the soul band The Emperors rocked the stage. Former "The Newlywed Game" host Bob Eubanks cracked jokes with the audience and shared some of his personal experiences working in television and radio, as well as some of his thought on life, work, and family.

And it was all done in support of stray dogs and cats that need a loving home.

In order to raise money for such vital services such as new dog kennels, emergency veterinary care, and cat and dog vaccinations, The Seal Beach Animal Care Center celebrated their 25th anniversary by hosting a fundraising gala at The Grand in Long Beach.

"We never hosted an event like this before, so we basically started from scratch," said Rachael Simon, who served as the events Gala Committee Chairperson.

Although the final numbers have yet to come in, the committee members of the event estimate that it raised at least $70,000, which will greatly help the shelter, which has an annual operating budget of nearly $800,000, all of which is all funded by the shelter's contributors. And despite being located in Seal Beach, the SBACC actually receives most of its support from residents of Long Beach.

"We're more associated with Long Beach than Orange County" said Dee Carey, an SBACC volunteer who served as one of the committee members of the event.

One of the major Long Beach connections to SBACC is the fact that Long Beach's Animal Care Services contracts itself to the City of Seal Beach, meaning that if a Seal Beach resident calls about a stray dog or cat in their neighborhood, ACS will pick it up and bring it to the shelter. The shelter also adopts many animals to Long Beach residents, including its former Mayor Beverly O'Neil.

Friends of the Seal Beach Animal Shelter was established as a group in 1986, it wasn't until July of 1988 that the shelter opened it's doors right behind the Seal Beach Police Department. In the early days, it was just a small cat room and 12 dog runs.

Today, the shelter houses at least 80 cats and between 35-40 dogs. It is unique among most other local animal shelters because it is a no-kill, pro-humane shelter, which means that no animals that are brought to the shelter are put down due to lack of space. The only time an animal is euthanised is if they are sick and their quality of life is gone.

"That was our vision from the very beginning" Carey said. "Our mission was to have a place where the animals who came into our care would never have to face euthanasia".

As a no-kill shelter, SBACC attracts volunteers and adopters from across the Southland, however, it also incurs far more expenses than most other shelters because of the length of time animals remain there and medical costs.

The shelter has come a long way from where it was 25 years ago and still volunteers continue to strive to make it even better with future plans including building an outdoor play run for the dogs.

If you are interested in contributing  to the SBACC, volunteering at the SBACC, or would just like to have a new best friend with four feet, you can go to the shelter's website at sbacc.org or contact them directly at (562) 430-4993.

Long Beach Playhouse Vigils Review

Published on Long Beach Post Website June 17, 2013

http://www.lbpost.com/life/2000002466-long-beach-playhouse-explores-love-loss-and-letting-go-with-vigils#.Uc-sn7TvyfQ

Love, loss and letting go are some of the major themes of Vigils, a drama that premiered at the Long Beach Playhouse’s Studio Theatre last Saturday where it will be performed through July 13.

The play, which was written by Noah Haidle and directed by CSULB Theatre Arts alumni Olivia Trevino, is about a young widower (played by Meghan Dillon, another alumni of CSULB’s Theatre Arts program) who is unable to let go of her firefighter husband after he dies trying to save a baby from a burning building.

She puts the soul of her dead husband in a box, where she keeps him for two years after his death. Brian Canup plays the soul of the widower’s husband while Steven Meeks plays the widower’s husband when he’s still alive through flashbacks. Other cast members include Luis Castilleja, who plays a former friend of the husband who is trying to woo the widower, and 10-year old DJ Price, who plays the baby trapped inside the burning building had he grown up.

The entire performance takes place inside the widower’s apartment with no set changes taking place.

“The main theme of this play is that life moves on”, said Dillon. The play presented a series of challenges for the director and the actors, with the most difficult being the jumps between different time periods.

Despite being a tragedy with some very dramatic themes, Vigils also presents a series of comic relief moments for the audience to enjoy. 

“It’s a very healing play," said Canup. “Not every play about love and loss is a grim weeper."

The director and the entire cast see Vigils as a very universal play because the themes of love and loss are themes that anyone can understand.

“We all relate to heartbreak and loss”, said Trevino. “That’s why people of all different ages can relate to it." 

General admission for the play is $24. Seniors can get in for $21, while admission for a student/child is just $14. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.lbplayhouse.org/box-office or by phone at (562) 494-1014.