Sara Pol-Lim, the Executive Director of the United Cambodian Community in Long Beach, is open about the horrors of her childhood. She was 9 years old the day that Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, the brutal regime that murdered millions of Cambodians.
At the Mietphoum Khmer Spirit Center in the heart of Long Beach’s Cambodia Town, Vouchmeng Sieng is talking, as always, about health insurance. A small gathering of Cambodian American immigrants have trickled into the center on a bright Saturday afternoon to find out about the new, still mysterious, Affordable Care Act.
Jorge Rivera’s mission, called Sole Searching, is twofold: to introduce his running companions to different parts of the city and to talk to residents of every neighborhood, both blighted and affluent, about the benefits of exercise.
The Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) BNSF Railway wants to construct a new rail yard a few miles from the Port of Long Beach, enabling a large volume of trucks to load containers onto trains closer to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and angering residents who say their neighborhood already suffers from poor air quality.
A fun fair aims to boost the mental health of children by strengthening the bond between parents and kids.
Soul food gets a bad rap, and some of it is unhealthy – but with some modifications and eaten in moderation, soul food can be good for your health, too.
Serve the People Community Health Center opened its doors in 2009 to offer free health care to the needy. The clinic’s dedicated founder, Dr. Dimitri Sirakoff thinks there’s more to health than health care – especially after seeing the effects of a poor diet on patients in his years of practice.
Standing in the dusty stables of the Los Angeles Equestrian Center on a sweltering day recently, a half dozen teenage girls had just finished their horseback ride and were admiring the mighty animals munching on hay in their metal stalls. This wasn’t a traditional equestrian outing. It was to celebrate the end of a self-esteem program, Just for Us.
Dr. Dimitri Sirakoff is less harried these days. The general medicine doctor and founder of the aptly named Serve the People Community Health Center still dons his white lab coat 90 hours a week. But the industrious physician has been able to hire a small staff to help him as he whips around his clinic providing services for a flood of poor, uninsured Santa Ana residents making their way to his waiting room.
Latinas in Long Beach gather in a day-long event as part of their mission to top domestic violence, provide access to legal and immigration services, promote affordable housing, and advocate for better air quality in underserved Long Beach neighborhoods.