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The East San Jose PEACE Partnership Cultivating resilience to address Adverse Community Experiences in an Accountable Community for Health Photo credit: Andrea Flores Shelton The East San Jose PEACE Partnership integrates racial and health “In spite of adverse community equity principles into violence prevention, including community building events. Children of the Rainbow Park, San Jose, 2017 experiences, the people of East San Jose continue to build on their A resilient community organizing resilience and assets and forge new for health and peace narratives for peace and prosperity.” The East San Jose PEACE (Prevention Efforts Advance – Andrea Flores-Shelton, East San Jose resident and former Community Equity) Partnership is a group of residents staff at the Santa Clara County Health Department and organizations working to build a healthy, peaceful and empowered community by preventing and addressing violence and trauma that affects youth, cutting through the neighborhoods has shaped the families and the community. East San Jose is a racially community conditions that contribute to these higher diverse, working-class community of 175,000 residents rates of violence. East San Jose also has many strengths within the city of San Jose, California, with a mix of and assets, including strong schools, arts and culture, distressed and prospering neighborhoods. East San the Mexican Heritage Plaza, many different faith centers, Jose residents experience more violence, such as and influential community empowerment organizations, community violence and intimate partner violence, than like Somos Mayfair. As well, East San Jose has a deep elsewhere in San Jose and Santa Clara County, and history of partnerships, initiatives, and relationships have higher rates of hospitalizations due to assaults and among community organizations and local government. firearm injuries. The community’s history of isolation In recent years, displacement of existing residents has from opportunity through residential segregation, poor become a growing concern, as population growth in the infrastructure planning and development, and freeways Silicon Valley region and lack of affordable housing stock have contributed to exorbitant rent increases. SAN JOSE | CITY VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES 1 In recognition of these challenges and building on assets, the PEACE Partnership formed as an An Accountable Community for Health Accountable Community for Health (ACH). is a multisector alliance serving a particular geographic area to improve community health The Adverse Community Experiences and reduce disparities through sustained and Resilience Framework guides the investments while aiming to reduce costs to PEACE Plan health care and other sectors. The California Accountable Communities for As a demonstration site participating in the California Health Initiative was established to lead efforts Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI), to modernize California’s health system and build a the PEACE Partnership adopted the ACH model and healthier state by transforming the health of entire set out to develop a plan for governance, interventions, communities, not just individual patients. The evaluation, financing and sustainability, communications, initiative is funded by The California Endowment, and more. Prevention Institute’s Adverse Community Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield of California Experiences and Resilience (ACE|R) Framework Foundation, and Sierra Health Foundation. served as a key framework for the plan. The ACE|R Framework helped the PEACE Partnership name the roots of violence and trauma and their community-wide sector representatives, several of whom are residents, multigenerational impact. According to Andrea Flores- sit at the table with community-based organizations, Shelton, an East San Jose resident and former staff with neighborhood associations, and other residents to share the Santa Clara County Health Department, “It hasn’t decision-making power and build collective capacity to been an easy conversation. But the ACE|R framework effect change. has given us a shared understanding and language Financing and sustainability: ACE|R recognizes about structural violence and how the community that structural factors and violence contribute to environment has historically impacted our communities disinvestment in certain communities, and that – and how that persists.” As a direct consequence, the symptoms of community trauma can further exacerbate PEACE Plan focused on solutions that will, according to economic disadvantage. By weaving together a variety Andrea, “Shift from a one child at a time service delivery of funding streams and financing approaches through a approach, to a comprehensive upstream strategy that Wellness Fund (a core component of the ACH model) to is attempting to put residents at the front, center, and invest in violence and trauma prevention and sustain the back.” Insights and recommendations from the ACE|R PEACE Partnership, the initiative is promoting economic framework informed major components of the plan: investment and stability at the neighborhood level. Leadership and governance: ACE|R acknowledges that Interventions: ACE|R names the community structural factors and community trauma can strain environment as an actionable place for healing and and weaken a community’s social fabric, and promotes resilience, and recommends strategies to strengthen community agency as an integral element of community sociocultural (“people”), built/physical (“place”), and healing and resilience. The PEACE Partnership planning economic/educational (“equitable opportunity”) factors process began with deep attention to governance and at the community level, particularly in a manner that emphasis on resident leadership, social inclusion, and is culturally rooted, promotes community healing, and transparency, to counter systemic inequities that have pushes back on structural violence. Along these lines, disenfranchised residents within the larger political the PEACE Partnership prioritized several synergistic and economic systems shaping the neighborhoods, interventions that support youth leaders, community city, and region. One-third of the Leadership Team is action teams, peer health educators, men and boys comprised of residents, and all work groups include networks, and family resource centers in promoting residents. Government, healthcare, and business SAN JOSE | CITY VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES 2 sharing stories from the community, remembering that our lived experiences and our cultural roots are our strengths.” This approach, including activities such as story sharing and video making, will: influence how residents, business leaders, and elected leaders understand violence, race, and health equity; and cultivate a shared narrative about peace, community, and resilience. Weaving relationship, process, and impact for resilience and peace The PEACE Partnership has multiple components and is seeking to promote health, equity, and safety through a number of sophisticated strategies and approaches, from distributing leadership to building a business case for violence prevention. At the heart of the work is a positive norms and culture, social cohesion, and healing skillful balance of relationship, process, and impact – through dialogues, peer education, and collective action. all in the service of building peace. Andrea describes For example, youth leaders and community action teams this practice: “The PEACE Partnership is moving an will enhance the youth center, community center, and agenda and meeting deliverables and milestones while other public spaces to promote social connectedness, really ensuring that there’s trust among the people shared trust, and willingness to act for the benefit of the sitting at the table. That’s the only way we’re going community. Further, an anti-displacement policy group to move from the traditional, transactional approach will develop and advocate for policies and practices to to a transformative approach that will truly make protect existing residents’ housing stability and social the changes that we’re hoping for our community.” and cultural support networks. Reducing violence and trauma is just the first step. By focusing on healing community trauma and building Communications: ACE|R has also informed the PEACE community resilience, the PEACE Partnership is not Partnership’s communications strategy. only transforming its approach to violence and trauma, Andrea shares, “The landscape is dominated by negative it is also building a legacy for improving the health and stories. But who is really telling the stories? We are flipping wellbeing of East San Jose residents for many years that dialogue, changing the narrator and the narrative, and generations to come. SAN JOSE | CITY VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES 3 Authorship & Resources ABOUT PREVENTION INSTITUTE Funded by Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit in Northern Prevention Institute is a nonprofit, national center dedicated to California, and based on interviews with practitioners in communities improving community health and wellbeing by building momentum for with high rates of violence, the report outlines specific strategies effective primary prevention. Primary prevention means taking action to address and prevent community trauma – and foster resilience – to build resilience and to prevent problems before they occur. The using techniques from those living in affected areas. For additional Institute’s work is characterized by a strong commitment to community

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