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LOC Toolbox: The LOC Toolbox is a general resource designed for Local Organizing Committees (LOCs) across a range of topics. While our partnership with Faith in the Valley (FIV) and Cultiva Central Valley (CCV) has primarily focused on housing LOCs, we hope this toolbox will support those interested...

The California Initiative for Health Equity and Action (Cal-IHEA) was created by the University of California (UC) Office of the President at the request of the California Legislature. Cal-IHEA builds on the university's public service mission and seeks to improve health equity in California by...

Guiding Principles | Nuestros Principios Rectores: Summary: Recognizing the importance of local organizing committees (LOCs) in effecting positive social change, HOPe Lab, Faith in the Valley Fresno, and Cultiva Central Valley - as a collaborative, aim to provide accessible resources, tools, and...

I'm the Principal Investigator and Director of the Lab. I'm a social epidemiologist, a public health professor at the University of California Merced and a Robert Wood Johnson Interdisciplinary Research Leadership fellow. My research is currently centered on the question of how place influences...

We Investigate Social Factors Influencing Health and Well-Being The Housing, Opportunity and Place (HOPe) Lab is a research group at the University of California, Merced investigating key social factors affecting health and health inequities in California's Central Valley, the heart of California.

Rebecca Martinez (she/her/ella) was a Staff Researcher at UC Merced's HOPe Lab. She earned her BA in Public Health from UC Merced in 2021 and her MPH in Health Policy and Services from the University of Southern California in 2024. Born and raised in California's Central Valley, Rebecca has a deep...

Kimberly Montanez graduated from UC Merced in May 2024 with a bachelor's degree in public health. She will now be participating in a year-long internship with the National Health Corps as an outreach and enrollment coordinator with Livingston Community Health. Kimberly is a Central Valley local and...