The location for our Fourth Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway and Resource Fair in the 4th District in partnership with Senator Josh Newman and United Across Borders Foundation on Sunday, November 20 from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM has changed. The new address for the event is:

Stanton Central Park

10660 Western Ave Stanton, CA 90680

To help families in need during the Thanksgiving holiday, we'll be giving away one $25 food voucher (for meat, bread, or produce at Northgate Market), along with a box of groceries per family on a first-come, first-served basis. Community-based organizations will also be providing resources to residents. Since this is a walk-up event, we recommend attendees bring a cart.

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This past Wednesday, we celebrated an eventful day for the County, as the Orange County Probation Department held its ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony for the Probation Multipurpose Rehabilitation Center (MRC).

The MRC will offer an easily accessible and centralized location for large groups of people to come together for the purpose of guiding justice-involved youth at Juvenile Hall and the Youth Leadership Academy toward successful lives, while supporting their families through the journey.

The facility consists of several classrooms for programming space, an auto shop, a gymnasium, a fitness center, a multipurpose room and childcare room that can also be used for youth to visit with their families, and more.

By offering spaces that are designed to be conducive for better learning environments and for youth to practice vocational and life skills, we are supporting youth to be better prepared upon re-entry into the community.

I was delighted to join Fullerton Police Department Chief Dunn and other elected officials at the grand opening of the HOPE Center!

HOPE is an acronym for Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement. This new dispatch Center for social workers will help individuals experiencing homelessness in the North Service Planning Area of Orange County that are on the streets. It's slogan is, "The Right Person, the Right Resource, Right Now."

The HOPE Center will deploy vans and allow Service Providers to go directly to individuals in the streets or living in their vehicles. This innovative model is a true partnership with funding and staffing support from eleven (11) North Orange County cities, the State of California, and the County of Orange.

In observance of Operation Green Light for Veterans, the County is illuminating the County Administration North building in the Santa Ana Civic Center green from Nov. 7th - 13th. We also encourage individuals and businesses to join us in supporting veterans by changing one light bulb in the entryway of your house or business to a green bulb. By shining a green light, we let veterans know that they are seen, appreciated, and supported.  

The Orange County Board of Supervisors will be presenting a resolution for Operation Greenlight to members of our Orange County veteran community during the Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 Board meeting. 

This month, we joined the Orange County Auditor-Controller's Office's appreciation events to recognize their employees’ efforts in the development and implementation of the new OC Time and Property Tax System programs. We thank them for going above and beyond to serve our County employees and Orange County residents.

Mark your calendars for free compost! OC Waste & Recycling is excited to host compost giveaways on Saturday, November 5 from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM while supplies last.

Giveaways will take place at:

• Valencia Greenery at Olinda Alpha Landfill
  • Address: 1942 N. Valencia Ave., Brea
• Bee Canyon Greenery at Frank R. Bowerman Landfill
  • Address: 11002 Bee Canyon Access Rd., Irvine
• Capistrano Greenery at Prima Deshecha Landfill 
  • Address: 32250 Avenida La Pata, San Juan Capistrano

Only prefilled bags are available at the Brea location, while supplies last. Residents should bring a shovel and container or bag to fill at the Irvine and San Juan locations. Quantities are limited, staff will be onsite to assist.

The Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) knows there are people who may have trouble getting to them - and this why they have the Mobile Response Vehicle (MRV). 

The MRV brings SSA eligibility workers to individuals in the community, such as colleges, homeless shelters, events and more. And I was delighted to see the MRV in action as students signed up for benefits, such as Medi-Cal and CalFresh, at SSA's California State University Fullerton event.

To learn more, check your eligibility, or apply for or renew Medi-Cal or CalFresh benefits online, please visit https://bit.ly/3gLOI0z.

California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) is a five-year initiative by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to improve the quality of life and health outcomes of the Medi-Cal population by meeting people where they are in life, addressing social drivers of health, and breaking down the walls of health care. CalAIM offers Medi-Cal enrollees coordinated and equitable access to services that address their physical, behavioral, developmental, dental, and long-term care needs by extending supports and services beyond hospitals and health care settings directly into California communities.

One of the way in which CalAIM achieves this is through Community Supports. As Orange County's Medi-Cal health plan, CalOptima Health recognizes that health outcomes are greatly influences by social factors and has committed to a phased approach of offering all 14 Community Supports by January 2023. Currently, nine of the 14 Community Supports such as assistance with housing or recuperative care are being offered to CalOptima members with the final five Community Supports launching in January 2023. 

To learn more about the CalAIM Community Supports, please click here.

To learn more about CalOptima, please visit www.caloptima.org or call CalOptima at (714) 246-8500 or toll free at (888) 587-8088, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. TTY users can call toll-free at (800) 735-2929. 

The City of Buena Park and Buena Park Police Department's Cops N' Goblins event at Buena Park City Hall was Spooktacular! There were costume contests, arts and crafts, trick or treating, and food trucks for families to enjoy. 👻

We also had some Skele-fun at Muckenthaler Cultural Center's Dia de los Muertos Festival! The festival had wonderful activities for the whole family, including live music, local artisans, and arts and crafts for kids. 🎃

Save the date for the City of Placentia's annual Tamale Festival on Thursday, December 8, 2022 from 4:00 pm - 10:00 p.m. in Old Town Placentia.