Planned Parenthood Expands
Planned Parenthood staffers, donors, community leaders and politicians celebrated the initial stage of construction of a new Salinas Health Center at a "Hard Hat" luncheon on Oct. 24, with speakers including state Assemblyman Simon Salinas, Mayor Anna Caballero and Planned Parenthood Mar Monte CEO Linda Williams.

"The new center will help up meet the growing needs of low-income residents, working families and young people," says health center manager Charlene Henion.

At 3,600 square feet, the $1.9 million facility will be twice the size of the current Salinas center. The existing building, at 316 N. Main, will be demolished once the new center is up and running. Completion is slated for March 2004.

Salinas' Planned Parenthood provides more than 1,100 patient visits each month--a 14 percent increase over previous years. Almost all of the clients are low- or very-low income Salinas residents without health insurance, and 85 percent are monolingual Spanish speakers.

In addition to the medical services, the Salinas Health Center is home to several programs including the school-based Family Life Education, "Teen Success" for teenage moms, "Teen Talk" for at-risk middle school students, the Male Involvement Program at juvenile detention sites, HIV/AIDS education and outreach, a toll-free Facts-of-Life line, and "Rockin' Da House" programming for teens on bilingual radio station KHDC. [JL]

Bilingual Radio Station Asks For Help
KHDC, 90.9 FM, has a unique way of reaching its estimated audience of 55,000 weekly listeners. The Salinas-based station presents its shows in English, Spanish, and the combination of both languages, referred to by station manager Delia Saldivar as Spanglish or Tejano.

Saldivar says the station's primary listeners are low-income, native Spanish-speaking.

"The audience is used to that kind of mix of languages," she says.

Due to the limited resources of the audience, Saldivar says that a pledge drive, like the one the station is currently having, generates low dollars. The station has typically made up that money from foundation grants, which, Saldivar says, haven't been easy to get lately.

Saldivar says that the station is considering eliminating local programming--including shows such as "Paz Y Justica" or "Peace and Justice"--which currently accounts for 75 percent of the station's programs. Call KHDC at 757-8039 to make a pledge. [BW]