Your donations to the Step Up program will be used for collateral items (i.e., T-shirts, backpacks, etc.), venue rental, event food, printing, speakers' fees, awards, materials, and other items associated with Step Up—a movement to encourage youth to participate in extracurricular activities, foster positive associations, and connect to constructive social networks.
SPTF envisions a county without suicide and aims to accomplish this by implementing a full range of strategies, starting from prevention and early intervention. Your donations to the SPTF will help increase prevention and early intervention services, and help our community members better understand and recognize the signs and symptoms of suicide risk.
Donations to the Homeless Fund will help supply toiletries, clothing, identification card/application fees, furnishings, or cooking utensils/appliances, or may fund expenses like a utility bill or car repair for those experiencing, at risk for, or exiting homelessness.
The Kings/Tulare Area Agency on Aging helps provide programs and activities for local senior citizens, from arts and crafts to Medicare counseling, line dancing to home-delivered meals. Your donations to the Area Agency on Aging will help us continue to provide a wide range of services and activities to encourage older Americans to remain healthy, active, and involved in the community.
For more than five decades the Lily Pond was a popular water feature in Mooney Grove Park. Due to the increasing cost of repair and maintenance over time, the Lily Pond is been non-functional for the past 15 years. To avoid demolition and to honor the history of the Lily Pond, the County is seeking donations from the community to help repair and restore the Lily Pond.
The funds donated to the Human Services At-Risk Youth fund benefit youth who are participating in an employment program and working to make the transition to adulthood and self-sufficiency. This program helps youth in need of emergency monies for necessities such as transportation, work apparel, utilities, medical, dental, and prescription expenses.
Contributing toward the support of our local veterans through the VSO General Fund is a great opportunity for the members of the community to give back and thank veterans for their services.
STD (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) Awareness Month, observed each April, is an opportunity to raise awareness about what STDs are and how they impact our lives; and to understand why it's important to prevent, test for, and treat STDs.
Anyone can get an STD. It has nothing to do with how "clean" someone is or how they dress or act. Most people who get an STD, including HIV, are unaware that the person they are having sex with has this type of infection.
The surge of STDs endangers the health of too many in the US. According to the CDC, from 2013–2017:
• Syphilis cases nearly doubled
• Gonorrhea cases increased by 67 percent
• Chlamydia cases remained at record highs
Given this data, STD Awareness Month is a timely reminder to continue to raise awareness about STDs, take action to mitigate the increase in STDs in the US, and reduce STD-related stigma, fear, and discrimination.
Locally, we can help. Click here for where one can get tested and for additional information. And Tulare County HHSA's Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health (MCAH) programs play a significant role in preventing and treating STDs via its Case Management and Disease Investigation for Pregnant Women and Women of Childbearing Age program.
In Tulare County, women of childbearing age accounted for an average of 334 cases of gonorrhea per year from 2016–2020. In addition, rates of syphilis among women and congenital syphilis in Tulare County have increased in the past years. In 2020, the incidence rate of early syphilis among females was 15.0 per 100,000, surpassing California's incidence rate of 14.1.
A nurse case manager provides education to pregnant women diagnosed with syphilis. In conjunction with primary care providers, the nurse case manager will ensure women receive appropriate treatment to prevent complications during pregnancy.
Need to get tested? Follow this link: How do I protect myself and my partner(s) from HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and STDs? | Get Tested (cdc.gov)
