Rooselvelt Health Center Celebrates Grand Re-Opening

Members of the Roosevelt Middle School community participated with the ribbon cutting ceremony.

On Wednesday, December 15, 2010, the Roosevelt Middle School community hosted a ribbon cutting celebration to mark the grand opening of the Roosevelt Health Center in it's completely renovated, expanded space. The celebration featured student performances, speakers from the school and community, an interactive art project, and guided tours in the Roosevelt Middle School courtyard.

The Roosevelt Health Center is operated by La Clínica de La Raza in collaboration with Oakland Unified School District, Asian Community Mental Health Services and Alameda Health Care Services Agency. Since 2000, the Roosevelt Health Center has been working to improve adolescent health, well-being, and the success of Roosevelt students and operates on a model that increases access to comprehensive and high-quality health care services, reduces student barriers to learning, and supports families and communities by providing basic medical care, mental health services and health education in a respectful and youth-centered environment.

Thanks to a collaborative initiative among OUSD, Elev8, the City of Oakland, the County of Alameda and The Atlantic Philanthropies, the resources and decision to create a new facility and expand the services was made in 2008. The new Health Center is expanding student access to services and will provide comprehensive dental health care, in addition to the health and mental health services already in place.

The Roosevelt Health Center is located at 1926 19th Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606. For more information, please contact the Roosevelt Health Center Director Salomeh Ghorban at sghorban@laclinica.org.

Spotlight on Student Photographer, Mai Downs

All of the photos in the new School Health Services Coalition website and printed brochure were taken by Mai Downs. Mai created an impressive personal photography portfolio on Flickr after two years of photography classes at Berkeley High School. This was Mai's first experience taking photos for a professional project. She worked closely with four mentors – learning tips and best practices for photo art direction, studio lighting, project management, graphic design, and work flow. Mai shot over a thousand photos for this project during four location photo shoots at Alameda County schools and two photo shoots in a professional studio. Mai is currently a senior and is in the process of applying to colleges where she can pursue a creative career.

Mai Downs and mentor Sibila Savage during a studio shoot. Photos by mentors Randall Homan and Thomas Hawks.