Greetings! It's been a long time since we've shared news on Public Matters.
Wonderful things are happening!

Awards:
Public Matters is proud to announce that we are part of two major awards -

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The NIH recently awarded a 5-year grant to establish the Center for Population Health and Health Disparities, a collaboration between the UCLA School of Public Health and the Keck Medical School at the University of Southern California that addresses cardiovascular health in East L.A. NIH funds enable Public Matters to expand our market makeover work, increasing access to healthy food by engaging local youth in the hands-on transformation of local stores and the creation of an innovative social marketing campaign while developing a cadre of community health advocates.

MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning (DML) Award

We are also part of our second DML award. Our proposal, “MetroVoice: About/In/By Los Angeles,” won the “Best in Class: Youth Partners” award! A joint venture with L.A. Freewaves, UCLA Center for REMAP, Echo Park Film Center and Public Matters, MetroVoice will place youth-created media and GPS-enabled banner text from our neighborhood-based projects onto the L.A. Metro buses, reaching a potential audience of 7 million people per week. For more, check out this video and link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NikP5yPi9vk

Vote for Us (please)!

Public Matters has been nominated for a Grant for Change award from the NAU clothing company. If we get the most votes, we'll receive a $10,000 award for our market makeovers work. Please vote for us at http://www.nau.com/collective/grant-for-change/public-matters-1280.html.

New Market Makeovers Project in East L.A.

With the support of the Office of L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, we've launched a new market makeover project in East L.A. in partnership with Los Angeles Communities Advocating for Unity, Social Justice, and Action (LA CAUSA) YouthBuild and Nathan Cheng Consulting. Working with LA CAUSA youth aged 16-24, we'll transform two corner markets from public health blights into community health resources in one of Los Angeles' worst food deserts. We're building a team of community health advocates, training them in health, nutrition, social marketing and healthy food retail while integrating green building practices into the market makeover process.

Pdub Productions Harana Project

PDUB Productions, our ongoing media and civic engagement project about L.A.'s Historic Filipinotown with youth from the Pilipino Workers Center and partners HyperCities and UCLA Center for REMAP, hits a high note with an intergenerational project involving elders from the Silver Lake Adult Day Health Care Center. Using music as a vehicle for cultural and narrative exchange, elders taught PDUB youth the art of the harana (traditional Filipino serenades). Following a highly successful joint performance in March, PDUB youth are now creating their own contemporary rock n' roll harana, complete with music video. It's sure to be a hit, so stay tuned for details!

In the meantime, check out an interview featuring PDUB Productions' student Xochilt Sanchez, Public Matters' Creative Director Reanne Estrada, Silver Lake Adult Day Health Care Center Program Director, Mila Anguluan-Coger, and Harana Mentor, Pedro Estrada on KPFK's program Experience Talks:

http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_100410_083030experiencetalks.MP3.

Public Matters in the News:

Hungry for more updates on a more regular basis? Please visit our blog. 

Here are a couple of recent posts highlighting our work:
Our East L.A. Market Makeover project scores some publicity, thanks to Rhonda Winter at Ecolocalizer: http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/05/12/greening-food-deserts-in-east-los-angeles/

A nice shot-out from Mia Lehrer and the folks at GOOD: http://www.good.is/post/five-innovative-urban-gardening-programs-in-los-angeles/