FOGHORN ISSUE 4 FINAL

02 03
THURSDAY
SEPT 28.
2023
STAFF
Editor in Chief
MEGAN ROBERTSON
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News Editor
NIKI SEDAGHAT
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Opinion Editor
CHISOM OKORAFOR
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LEILA TSELNER
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General Reporter
INÉS VENTURA
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General Reporter
JORDAN TYLER MARALIT
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STAFF EDITORIAL
HONORING LATINE CULTURE
THROUGH ADVOCACY
The University of San Francisco is
tied for first with Andrews University
in campus ethnic diversity, according
to the U.S. News & World Report 2024.
USF can and should connect its students
to progress-focused organizations and
programs they may not have known
about otherwise. It is imperative
that USF’s partnerships are diverse
in purpose so students can interact
with all facets of their communities,
especially as a celebration of their
heritage and culture.
According to College Factual,
25.1% of USF’s full-time undergraduate
population is Hispanic. University
involvement with Bay Area Latine
community organizations allows
these students to develop leadership
and service skills through community
engagement. The hurdles Latine people
face are as diverse as the community is,
which is reflected by USF’s community
partners.
One such organization is Ayudando
Latinos A Soñar (ALAS), a nonprofit
working toward “social wellness
through multicultural practices,
mental health care, individualized
and collective support related to
education, immigration processes, and
work,” according to their website. The
organization advocates for and provides
food and water to Half Moon Bay’s
predominantly Latine farmworkers.
USF’s involvement with ALAS
started in the summer of 2020 when
USF Program Coordinator for Catholic
Educational Leadership Jane Bladesdale,
along with her doctoral student
Mauricio Diaz De Leon, helped tutor
Latine children to literacy gaps fueled
by pandemic-related school closures.
The University Ministry supports
farmworker families in Half Moon Bay
with weekly tutoring sessions.
At the School of Law’s
Immigration & Deportation Defense
Clinic, law students work closely with
unaccompanied minors and families
to guide them through removal
proceedings, asylum hearings, and
interviews. According to the School of
Law website, “The majority of clients
are seeking asylum and come from the
Northern Triangle in Central America
and Mexico.”
At the School of Law’s Immigration
Policy Clinic, students learn about
and assist with immigration policy
changes. Through the clinic, students
educate people about their rights,
advise lawmakers in creating effective
immigration legislation, and partner
with the Catholic Legal Immigration
Network to assist detainees appealing
to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
For students outside the School
of Law, there are still opportunities to
get involved with the work these clinics
do. According to USF’s Solidarity
in Action website, the Immigration
and Deportation Defense Clinic has
opportunities for Spanish-speaking
students to “help with interpreting
during asylum interviews, interpreting
during psychological evaluations
and translating Spanish documents,”
among other things.
The Leo T. McCarthy Center for
Public Service and the Common Good
is another hub of student activism
at USF, hosting many programs in
which students interact directly with
policymakers and potential voters.
It’s hard to effectively incorporate
activism into a busy schedule, but
all students should be able to find
opportunities that reflect their unique
ways of activism. It is essential that
USF continues to offer diverse avenues
toward community engagement, so
that during Hispanic Heritage Month
and beyond, students can honor their
culture through advocacy.
ALAS hosts cultural events for the Half Moon Bay Latine community. Photo courtesy of the Half Moon
Bay Review.
FREE HEALTHCARE IN THE MISSION
KYLA MENCONI
Staff Writer
An estimated three million Californians are at risk of losing
their health insurance as residents will have their Medi-Cal eligibility
reconsidered in the coming months, according to ABC7. As of June,
approximately 225,000 Medi-Cal recipients have already lost their
coverage after reconsideration, according to the California Department
of Health Care Services (DHCS). The advocacy group Latino Coalition
for a Healthy California found that of those who have been disenrolled
from Medi-Cal during the reconsideration process, 53% identify as
Latine, the most of any other racial or ethnic population.
According to California Health and Human Services, Medi-Cal
reviews member eligibility once a year to see whether the applicant’s
property and assets exceed the eligibility limit, which was paused
during the COVID-19 public health emergency. On May 11, the process
resumed. On Aug. 16, CBS reported that 150,000 people across the Bay
Area will have their Medi-Cal eligibility reconsidered.
Latine sophomore nursing major Alejandro Marquez is one
of these Medi-Cal recipients. He said, “I got something in the mail
yesterday that it’s going to be reconsidered… [Medi-Cal] helps people
access healthcare.”
Clinica Martín-Baró, a free healthcare clinic in the Mission
District, is an alternative resource that those who have lost their
insurance can use. The clinic’s mission is “to promote wellness and
address the health care needs of the underserved and economically
disadvantaged Spanish-speaking
community of the Mission District,”
according to their website. All of the
clinic’s services, including primary
care, specialist referrals, and
medication, are free.
The clinic’s multiple
partnerships, including San
Francisco State University’s (SFSU)
department of Latina/Latino
Studies and members of University
of California, San Francisco Health
(UCSF), fund its efforts.
UCSF and SFSU students run
the clinic. SFSU alumni Dr. Caro
Monico and Dr. Zoel Quinonez
opened the clinic in 2007 during
their time at UCSF.
Latine sophomore nursing
major Dyrin Chavez Hernandez said,
“I have heard of Clinica Martín-
Baró here in SF. I love the work
that they are doing for our Latine
community in the Mission, and
I hope to be able to volunteer for
them in any way I can. Start-ups like
these are extremely important to our
communities.”
Milagros Hernandez, who has
been an intern at Clinica Martín-
Baró since 2018, said, “Today, a
patient that I hadn’t seen in a while
recognized my name and gave me
the biggest hug. They always leave
saying thank you so many times.”
As a Latine person, Hernandez
said, “When I go on a health visit,
I feel unseen. I used to have to
translate through my parents, so I understand the cultural barrier
when people come into Clinica Martín-Baró.”
Representation for Latine people is important to Marquez.
“Having more and more Latino representation in the medical industry
is really cool to see, because it determined that Latino people are more
than capable of achieving success in the medical industry.”
The clinic’s name comes from Ignacio Martín-Baró, a Jesuit priest
and scholar who fought for social justice. USF has its own program
dedicated to the work of Martín-Baró — the Martín-Baró Scholar
program, in which first-year students work to fight food insecurity
by donating food to community organizations like the Richmond
Neighborhood Center and the USF Food Pantry.
USF nursing students also engage with various Bay Area
community organizations. These include the Academic-Practice
Partnership with Kaiser Permanente, Engage San Francisco and
Veteran Affairs Nursing Partnership.
For Latine sophomore nursing major Sima Sadaghini, partnerships
between healthcare and the Latine community are “vital and needed.”
Clinica Martín-Baró is open Saturdays for free healthcare services
to community members. The clinic also has a resource list with
information about COVID, housing and reproductive healthcare in
the broader Bay Area.
Megan Robertson, Jordan DelFiugo, Oliver River Satalich and Niki
Sedaghat contributed to the reporting of this story.
Clinica Martín-Baró opened in 2007 to provide free healthcare in the Mission District. Photo by Kyla Menconi / SF Foghorn
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