Disturbing Statistics
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20% of the children and 37% of the adults in West Oakland have asthma. Children in West Oakland are seven times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than any other children in California. The Oakland-Berkley Asthma Coalition reviewed hospitalization rates for Alameda County in 1999-2001 and found a 28% increase in […]

Recently I received a call from a young lady whose name I did not recognize. She said that each year during the Christmas season she and her mother collected toys and gave them to a worthy charity. This year they had selected Prescott-Joseph Center. I expressed my gratitude as we were putting together Christmas packages […]

Thoughts about a recent participant in the HEARTs program
By instructor, Carmen Reyes
“Lady, as I know thy power,
I place my hopes in thee;
Thy shrine in Guadalupe’s tower,
My pilgrim’s steps shall see.
Thy welcome ever was most sweet
To those who come in care;
When from this prison I retreat,
I’ll seek thine image there.”
As I look at the portrait […]

Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and Prescott-Joseph Center Help Family in Dire Need
by Executive Director Washington Burns, M.D.
On a Thursday afternoon about 3pm, I arrived at PJC after an outside meeting to have the director of a youth project meeting there tell me that one of the students involved in the project had just been burned out […]

California Endowment awarded the West Oakland Asthma Coalition and Prescott-Joseph Center a $65,000 grant for 18 months to continue the asthma education program.
Current data from our work in West Oakland schools indicates that the incidence of asthma in school children in West Oakland is 18-20%. The adult incidence is higher, but it is difficult […]