City Heights Speak for Change: Multi Media from The AjA Project on Vimeo.
By Brent Jensen, Kiran Mehta, Beto Soto,
Binti Musa, Famo Musa, Karla Flores and Kassandra Elias
In efforts to positively impact the community, Price Philanthropies and California Endowment invested an estimated $265 million in City Heights over the past 15 years. Guided by a ‘bottom-up’ approach, California Endowment has made investments in local non-profits with the aim of empowering City Heights’ residents to become the leaders and change-makers in their community. Price Charities has invested in the infrastructure of the community, funding developments such as the City Heights Urban Village; a cluster of restaurants, retail stores and produce markets at Fairmount and University. Both foundations’ contributions to the city have impacted the economic and social climate of the community, yet are not reflected in traditional statistical studies measuring the county average with regards to income, employment, obesity rates, educational outcomes and crime.
The AjA Project’s YAC Youth Media Team approached the topic of measuring change by exploring how the individual perceives community change through a qualitative lens. The Youth Media Team reached out to two specific populations of residents in City Heights: youth and homeless, and asked how they have seen their community improve over time, as well as what changes they believe would prospectively have the greatest impact on their community in the future. The Youth Media Team aims to record, preserve, and share the opinions and portraits of these members of City Heights.
See what they learned from City Heights’ homeless and youth.