Blog
Together we make a difference: Compassion Week 2024
Compassion Week provides more awareness and understanding of the needs around us, and is a wonderful opportunity for individuals, families, and groups to engage in acts of service — while forging connections and spreading kindness.
Young people can connect to mental health services
As chair of our county’s Health and Hospital Committee, I’m mindful of just how vital county programs and services can be for young people’s well-being. I hope families in the communities I represent in District 5 take advantage of the programs available to them.
Santa Clara County’s safety net services build stronger communities for all
Our county’s safety net includes a wide array of programs covering healthcare, housing assistance and food security, among others. These programs are designed to provide a lifeline to those in need, ensuring that no one is left behind.
Making camp – and our community – more inclusive
Camp Via West, one of the few remaining residential camps serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the region. County support for Camp Via West, an affiliate of the non-profit AbilityPath, paved the way, and was more than matched by private philanthropy and additional grant funding from Helpers Community.
MedAssist milestone: relief from the high cost of life-saving drugs
Santa Clara County’s MedAssist Program is the first-in-the-nation program to help cover the cost of life-saving medications for diabetes, asthma, and severe allergies.
Helping veterans get the services they need, and deserve
Veterans are legally entitled to federal and state military service benefits including: disability compensation; non-service-connected pensions; education; burial assistance; survivor’s benefits; Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, and more. But getting these benefits is not always easy. Santa Clara County Supervisors Joe Simitian and Otto Lee proposed increase staffing at the County’s Veterans Service Office (VSO) to help serve more veterans more fully and more quickly.
Building TRUST for West Valley mental health crisis response
Santa Clara County’s Trusted Response Urgent Support Team (TRUST) program has a mental health professional available to assess, de-escalate, and connect individuals in crisis with counseling, mediation or mental health services — instead of an emergency department or jail. Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian shares information about the program.
Distracted drivers should put down cell phones
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, both nationally and here in Santa Clara County. Distracted driving is a topic Supervisor Joe Simitian has been focused on since cell phones first became a part of our lives.
The long goodbye to Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry
Goodbyes are often hard. But there’s one goodbye Supervisor Joe Simitian is OK with – the day when we finally say ‘so long’ to the Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry, a 3,500-acre property in the Cupertino foothills.
Celebrating County Parks: a century of preserving open space
A century ago Santa Clara County acquired 400 acres of rolling foothills between Saratoga and Cupertino for the County’s first public park — Stevens Creek County Park. This laid the foundation for the modern-day Santa Clara County Parks system, which today includes 28 locations encompassing more than 52,000 acres set aside for recreation and habitat protection.
