Our Programs
CCAC operates various programs to improve the lives of residents in equity communities across the San Joaquin Valley. Read more about these programs below.
Comprehensive Asthma Remediation and Education Services (CARES)
CARES is a multi-component intervention strategy to improve the lives of Valley residents suffering from asthma by reducing triggers in the home and ensuring access to and proper use of asthma medications. CARES also supports patients by facilitating and reinforcing regular visits to a health care provider. CARES has been demonstrated to improve the management of asthma and reduce asthma emergencies among a high-risk Medi-Cal population in the region. CARES currently partners with four managed care plans covering six SJV counties to identify at-risk patients and provide in-home Asthma Remediation services.
SJVAir Network
SJVAir is a network of low-cost air quality monitors providing real-time PM2.5 information to equity communities across the San Joaquin Valley. SJVAir includes an automated text message system that provides Valley residents real-time air quality alerts based on the monitor nearest their home, work and/or school. SJVAir partners with the California Air Resources Board and SJV Air Pollution Control District to collocate low-cost sensors with regulatory monitors at over a dozen sites across the Valley to generate local calibrations for each low-cost monitor in the network. SJVAir also operates high-performance, regulatory-grade PM2.5 monitors in select school districts located furthest from the existing network of regulatory monitors.
EV Equity Program
The EV Equity Program is helping residents across the Valley understand the environmental and economic benefits of driving an Electric Vehicle and the available financial incentives. The Program provides one-on-one assistance, helping individuals apply for over $13,000 in state and local clean vehicle grants and rebates. The program also educates residents about the different types of electric vehicles, charging, range, and maintenance. The Program works closely with affiliated partners who can help with credit repair and getting approved for a low-interest loan. The Program also works closely with affiliated dealerships to track EV inventory and pricing.
Clean Transportation Outreach
The Clean Transportation Outreach (CTO) Program is a collaboration between CCAC, Valley CBOs and multiple funding partners, including the Energy Foundation, the Center for Sustainable Energy, GRID Alternative, Electrify America, General Motors and WattEV. The CTO Program established the Clean Vehicle Empowerment Collaborative, a group of eight community-based organizations across the Valley, to conduct Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) outreach in equity communities. The Program includes coordinated marketing, education and outreach to low-moderate income residents about electric vehicles and to local businesses and agencies about electric vehicle charging infrastructure, with the goal of bringing both assets to equity communities in every county of the San Joaquin Valley.
Environmental Health Research
CCAC’s Research Program involves collaboration with leading universities, including UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, UC Merced, UC Irvine, UCLA, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, to study the health effects of indoor and outdoor air pollution on children living in equity communities of the San Joaquin Valley. CCAC’s research team is responsible for subject recruitment, enrollment and data collection, including relevant air pollutants (e.g. PM2.5, PAH, NO2) and various health indicators (e.g. inflammation, metabolic dysregulation, lung function). The program includes federal and state-funded studies in Valley cities, like Stockton, Fresno, and Bakersfield, along with projects in smaller, rural communities, like Alpaugh, Ducor and Allensworth.
Climate Mitigation and Resilience
The Climate Adaptation Program provides education and resources to vulnerable Valley populations to reduce the health impacts of climate-related increases in wildfire smoke. CCAC partners with other CBOs, like the Central California Environmental Justice Network and the Fresno Center to create culturally-appropriate materials to educate and inform families about actions they can take to protect themselves from hazardous exposures to wildfire smoke. CCAC also provides free air monitors and purifiers to families with asthma to detect and reduce smoke-related air pollution (fine particles) inside the home. Families are also provided N95 masks to reduce smoke exposure when they leave the home.
Environmental Policy
Since its inception in 2011, CCAC has engaged in multiple arenas of Environmental, Social, and Climate Justice policy and advocacy. CCAC has developed programs that educate and support disadvantaged communities by both advocating for local air pollution and climate-related issues and help directly mitigate the health impacts of air pollution and climate change. CCAC works to ensure residents of low income and disadvantaged communities in the SJV have access to incentives and services that improve health and significantly reduce their carbon and air pollution footprints. CCAC’s policy and advocacy efforts include working on California’s AB32 mandated Greenhouse Gas Scoping Plan revisions since 2011, serving on various committees at DHCS, CEC, CARB and the SJVAPCD, along with a number of other efforts that ensure equity is included in policies and regulations that impact all Californians but specifically protect resident in low-income and frontline communities.
Housing Navigation
The Housing Navigation Program identifies a family’s risk of being without a home in the next 12 months and provides assistance to asthma clients and their families with access to resources for sustaining their housing. In partnership with Kern Health Systems (KHS) and Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK), CCAC assesses the risk of losing housing prior to it occurring and put into action different strategies to aid the clients with resources such as financial housing assistance, public housing, utility assistance, financial education courses, credit repair, food access, and other needs necessary for stable home living. We believe that access to immediate necessities, such as food and shelter, opens the door for better management of asthma.
