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Oakland Zoo rescues three mountain lion cub siblings
Nxt Gen Alliance brings generations together
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tricityvoice.com
February 4, 2025
Malaya leads the fight for immigrant safety
Fremont student wins Young Marine of the Year— twice
FILIPINO ADVOCACY GROUP IN UNION CITY PROVIDES CRUCIAL SUPPORT DURING TRUMP-DIRECTED DEPORTATIONS
AKSHAYA KRISHNA CREDITS PROGRAM WITH GIVING HER CONFIDENCE AND PERSEVERANCE
By PANASHE MATEMBA-
MUTASA
With many immigrant groups living in fear after President Trump’s second inauguration, the local Filipino advocacy group Malaya Union City, a branch of Malaya USA, has stepped up to provide crucial support. On Friday, Jan. 24, members of the organization gathered outside Fremont Bank, rallying the community to mobilize in defense of immigrants and their families. “We want to make sure immigrants are safe under this new administration,” said Malaya member Roberta Ryan. Over the past week, immigrant communities nationwide have been shaken by “ICE raids” as Trump delivers on his promise to remove undocumented individuals from the country. Many of the affected areas are self-declared “sanctuary cities,” traditionally seen as havens for noncitizens. While these cities can refuse to cooperate with ICE efforts, they cannot prevent agents from conducting raids. As confidence in the protection offered by sanctuary cities wanes, advocacy groups like Malaya are stepping in to provide hope and resources. On the corner outside Fremont Bank, Malaya Union City members led spirited protest chants while passing cars honked in solidarity. Malaya USA, established in 2018, was born out of a collective effort by Filipino community leaders to promote the welfare and safety of their diaspora. In a statement, the organization highlighted the economic struggles
Malaya Union City members mobilize to ensure that immigrants are safe under the new administration. Photo by Panashe Matemba-Mutasa continued on page 13
INDEX Arts & Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . 13 Bulletin Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Vol. 24 No. 6
By CONNIE CHEUNG
According to Kimberly Hartz, Washington Health CEO, the rebranding signifies renewed commitment to community and health. Photo courtesy of Washington Health
Healthcare system rebrand keeps its community focus WASHINGTON HOSPITAL IS NOW WASHINGTON HEALTH By STEPHANIE UCHIDA Humans tend to see their ailments as discrete events—that lower back pain, annoying dry skin, indigestion— decoupling the problems from each other and also from the overall self. A healthcare system can do the same thing on a grander scale, with patients chasing down specialists in a faceless corporation. Washington Hospital Healthcare System has presented an alternative for over 60 years, and their recent rebranding as Washington Health renews their commitment to seeing and caring for the whole person. Washington Health CEO Kimberly Hartz spoke on how the hospital’s roots reach back to before Fremont’s incorporation as a city. “In 1948 community members came together because they wanted to have local healthcare,” says Hartz. “They were either traveling north to Oakland or south to San Jose, and so they decided they wanted to bring local health care to this community. It took them 10 years, and they raised the money and opened Washington Hospital as a 150-bed hospital serving a community of about 18,000.” Now the hospital has 415 beds, clinics, a birthing center, surgery center, new Level II trauma center— and serves 400,000 in Fremont, Newark, Union City, Southern Hayward and Sunol. While that’s the core service area, some patients come from beyond the Bay Area and even out of state. The rebranding reflects that while Washington Health (WH) began as a hospital, it’s now an integrated system of programs. Hartz says, “People
A document outlining what “The Young Marine Recruit Must Know” includes subjects ranging from “how often they must change their underwear” to “how to properly address all adults.” Eligible recruits starting at eight years old must pass the knowledge test and perform certain exercises to become a private in the Young Marines, a youth organization modeled after the United States Marine Corps. “Without the Young Marines program, I’d be a totally different person,” said Akshaya Krishna, a junior at Fremont’s Irvington High School who recently won her division’s “Young Marine of the Year” honor for the second time. “The way I hold myself, the way I speak… Everything has improved, and I have so much more confidence,” she said, crediting the organization with helping her overcome a fear of heights and developing public speaking skills that came in handy in a TV interview with a local news channel last year. Krishna is a remarkably “eloquent and motivational young woman,” said Abra Hogarth, a spokesperson at the nonprofit’s headquarters in Virginia. Nationally, only six students are awarded a division’s top honor, and it is especially rare to be selected twice in a row. Candidates must meet stringent requirements, undergo a “question and answer” session, then deliver a speech in a lengthy process that sounds akin to a dissertation defense. In a 16-page portfolio shared by Krishna,
come up and say, ‘I came over to this surgery center and it says Washington but is it part of you or not?’ So there’s been some confusion as to what constitutes Washington Hospital Healthcare System.” Careful consideration and market analysis went into the rebranding, which started in July of 2022. The process included doing market research and talking with the community, patients and staff to get a sense of how they saw Washington as a healthcare system. “It was a lot of thinking about who we were, who we are, and who we need to be as a community health system,” says Hartz. “Our community has always been here for us and we feel how important it is to be here for our community.” The new logo combines three diverse elements to represent the diversity in the Bay Area, adding a calming blue but keeping the original Washington Hospital green. Underpinning community focus is the fact that WH is an independent health system and will continue this way—in an increasingly rare model where doctors and staff live in the community. Hartz explains, “We don’t have a parent company, so all the money we make goes back into new programs and services to meet the needs of our community and not to some other place.” WH partners with others such as local faith-based and nonprofit organizations. In particular, WH’s relationship with UCSF Health lets them bring academic level care in cardiology and oncology to the Tri-City community. The switch from “Hospital” to “Heath” for the “H” highlights an
Irvington High School student receives Young Marine of the Year award. Photo courtesy of Young Marines
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