The CEO of the Davis Street Community Center (DSCC) in San Leandro, California, Rose Padilla Johnson is a long-time leader in the community service sector. As the head of San Leandro’s DSCC since 1991, Rose Padilla Johnson oversees a health clinic, childcare services, and even cooking classes at one of the region’s most active community centers.Focused on teaching nutrition as well as cooking skills, Davis Street’s cooking classes show community members how to prepare healthy and culturally relevant meals on a small budget. With a specific focus on preparing nutritious meals with donations received from food pantries, the class welcomes people from all backgrounds and provides translation services for Spanish and Cantonese speakers.In addition to preparing meals, the Davis Street cooking class focuses on bilingual education about obesity risks and ways to avoid obesity for both children and adults. Participants in the cooking classes also receive one-on-one support from a wellness coach who assists with identifying lifestyle changes to improve nutrition and overall health.
Rose Padilla Johnson leads Davis Street, a San Leandro, California-based community outreach organization. During her more than 25 years at the helm, Rose Padilla Johnson grew the San Leandro organization from a $380,000 agency in 1991 to the $10.5 million service entity it is today.To serve the undocumented and marginalized residents of San Leandro, Davis Street takes financial and organizational risks that result in successes for the San Leandro community. For example, Davis Street merged with Stepping Stones Growth Center in 2017, when that organization faced operational challenges. Davis Street saw the value of Stepping Stones’ services to persons with disabilities, and decided to step in and acquire that agency. It programs are still offered today.In another effort to help financially challenged families in the San Leandro area, Davis Street is continuing to being 60 subsidized child-care slots in Marea Alta, where a housing complex is constructed. Even in the absence of a license to operate, Davis Street deemed it necessary to work to offer subsidized child care because of the real need at Marea Alta.
A leader in the community service sector, Rose Padilla Johnson serves as the CEO of the Davis Street Community Center (DSCC) in San Leandro, California. Providing strong leadership to DSCC and the San Leandro community since 1991, Rose Padilla Johnson oversees the Center’s child care program that provides a rich early-learning environment to 1,200 children each month.Even after acquiring kindergarten readiness skills, some students in California still face the challenge of not having enough qualified teachers. Out of 211 California school districts surveyed by the Learning Policy Institute, nearly 75 percent were unable to find enough teachers to fill their classrooms in 2016. Instead, the districts filled the gap by issuing more than 12,000 provisional or limited assignments to teachers during the 2016-2017 school year. To rectify the fully-qualified-teacher shortage, California lawmakers are spending more than $200 million. This includes funds for teaching training and recruitment programs, including $45 million to help temporary teachers become credentialed, $10 million for new undergraduate programs, and $9 million for teacher and administrator recruitment and retention. In addition, the 2018 California state education budget allocated $100 million to fund teacher residencies to increase special-education teaching staff, and $25 million more to fund teacher residencies in science, math, and bilingual education.
For more than two decades, nonprofit leader Rose Padilla Johnson has overseen health, early education, and life skills programming for low-income families and individuals as the CEO of San Leandro’s Davis Street Community Center. Over the course of Rose Padilla Johnson’s tenure, the center has expanded its programs to address numerous relevant community issues. Its primary care facility offers a 12-week anger management program that accepts San Leandro residents regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay. Anger is a normal, healthy response to disappointing situations or feelings of betrayal. However, people who frequently express anger over minor occurrences or react violently or aggressively toward others may need therapeutic support to better handle their emotions. Intensive anger management programs, especially those lasting eight weeks or longer, are effective for reducing violent outbursts and promoting healthier behavior patterns. While there are many different types of anger management programs, a commonly used therapeutic approach is grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy. Participants are encouraged to examine and recognize their thoughts, notice situations or people that trigger their anger, and to employ stress-reduction and communication techniques to work through problems in a more constructive manner.
Nonprofit executive Rose Padilla Johnson previously served as president of the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce in California. A San Leandro resident, Rose Padilla Johnson serves as CEO of Davis Street Community Center Incorporated. Davis Street, which seeks to address poverty and improve health for those who are disenfranchised, recently released its full-year report for the fiscal year 2017/2018. Here are some of the highlights:-Davis Street Primary Care Clinic is still growing. By the close of 2017/2018, the clinic had provided services to 12,390 patients. The bulk of patient visits were to the medical department (7,655 patients), followed by the dental department (3,297), behavioral (934), counseling (398), and optometry (132). -Over the same year, Davis Street’s five childcare centers cared for more than 300 children daily.-The Holiday Basket Program served thousands of people from low-income families. Through the program, Davis Street staff and volunteers provided food and toys to 1,005 families, including 1,803 children and 212 seniors. -Its Back to School program provided 300 children from low-income families with new shoes, backpacks, and school supplies for the new academic year.
A San Leandro, California, resident, Rose Padilla Johnson is a recipient of the United Nation’s Global Citizen Award for her efforts to alleviate inequality among low-income families. For more than 25 years, Rose Padilla Johnson has served as CEO of San Leandro-based nonprofit Davis Street Community Center Incorporated. Davis Street’s mission is to improve the health and quality of life of people in need. As part of this effort, its clinic offers nutritional cooking classes to help patients achieve wholesome, long-lasting recovery. Classes are conducted at Davis Street’s demonstration kitchen. Nutritionists are brought in to give patients lessons on preparing healthy, affordable, culturally appropriate meals. Patients also are shown how to make healthy grocery purchases on a limited budget. Lessons and recipes are available in Spanish and Cantonese as well as English. On top of grocery shopping and cooking lessons from nutritionists, wellness coaches work with patients individually on the lifestyle changes they need to make to live healthier. The coaches also talk to patients about the risks of obesity.
As a result of her tenacious efforts and well-developed network, Davis Street CEO Rose Padilla Johnson managed the growth of the San Leandro, California, community center from a small operation into a $10 million organization that serves tens of thousands of clients annually. A visible presence in several community-focused organizations, Rose Padilla Johnson advocates on behalf of the most disadvantaged residents of San Leandro, many of whom arrived in the city within the past decade after skyrocketing home prices pushed them out of the Bay Area. According to a study conducted by the Urban Displacement Project under the direction of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, rising housing prices in the Bay Area are disproportionately driving out low-income families of color. Between 2000 and 2015, despite rent prices growing by 30 percent, the number of low-income white households remained relatively stable. Conversely, during this same period, 20 percent of economically disadvantaged families of color relocated to lower-priced areas such as Antioch and San Leandro. This migration pattern has resulted in neighborhoods that are less racially and economically diverse. The impact is especially profound for low-income African American households, who are far more likely to live in a low-income neighborhood than their white economic peers. Economic segregation results in a litany of social problems, including a lack of accessible job opportunities and increased difficulties securing housing.
