“From clothes that don’t fit anymore to books you don’t read anymore, to kitchen and household items you don’t want or use, the Salvation Army can use them to recycle lives.”
(San Bernardino, Calif.) Spring is here and spring cleaning is on a lot of people’s minds right now. But rather than throw things away, donate them to the Salvation Army.
“The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center of San Bernardino will be happy to accept your donations of whatever you are cleaning out—clothes, furniture, even unwanted small appliances—and distribute them to our six Family Stores in the San Bernardino area,” said Administrator of Business at the San Bernardino Adult Rehabilitation Center, Major Donald Sheppard.
Shoppers get great bargains and the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs get funds to continue serving those in need, said Major Sheppard.
“Our Family Stores raise almost all of the program’s revenue, which is used to help the rehabilitation centers’ men new job skills, helping them become more productive members of society after they complete the program,” said Major Sheppard.
Major Martha Sheppard, Administrator of Program (L), and Major Donald Sheppard (R), Administrator of Business, at the San Bernardino Adult Rehabilitation Center. Their 122-bed facility posted a 39 percentsustained recovery rate this past April.
“From clothes that don’t fit anymore to books you don’t read anymore, to kitchen and household items you don’t want or use, the Salvation Army can use them to recycle lives and 100 percentof the monies raised at the stores stays within the operations of the rehabilitation program” adds Major Sheppard.
“We need donations of every kind,” said Carl M. Dameron, Chair of San Bernardino’s Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center Advisory Board.
“We receive no other funds, and with the Covid pandemic, donations have been at an all-time low. You can donate cars, trucks, boats, clothing, furniture, small appliances and even property,” said Dameron .
You can drop-off donations at all locations located at all of The Salvation Army Stores. You can also call 1-800-SA-TRUCK (1-800-728-7825) or visit the website at www.SATruck.org for the location near you.
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About the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center
The Adult Rehabilitation Center is a six-month social model program, which combines a comprehensive rehabilitation program and work therapy for men who wish to overcome drug or alcohol addiction. These men attend individual and group counseling, substance abuse education, 12-Step meetings, and learn about stress management, anger management, parenting and overcoming addiction, as well as spiritual counseling. Re-entry and alumni support services are also provided. Many recreational activities are also provided, which alumni can continue after their treatment as part of a sober lifestyle.
The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been in existence since 1865 and in San Bernardino since 1887, supporting those in need without discrimination. To donate, call 1-800 SATRUCK.
“We need to take the stigma away from mental health issues in the Black family”, said Healthy Heritage Movement founder Phyllis Clark.
(Ontario, Calif.) Join the Healthy Heritage Movement for a Healthy Laugh! “In honor of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, Healthy Heritage is celebrating with a Comedy Show and Mental Health Resource Fair at the world-famous Improv Comedy Club in Ontario”, said Healthy Heritage Movement founder Phyllis Clark.
Our mission is to eliminate health disparities within the African American Community through health education, policy change, and community outreach, said Clark.
The Healthy Heritage Movement has assembled a group of more than twenty mental health professionals, organizations, and aware comedians to entertain and inform African Americans in the IE of what is available to help people on Sunday, May 15, 2022, at 4:00 pm.
“The day’s feature is a two-hour, stand-up clean comedy show at the Ontario Improv Theater for ages 18 and older,” said Clark.
The comedy lineup includes:Lamont Bonman, who has also performed as Rev Monty B. Sharpton in clubs, churches, and concerts across the country. He created the wildly popular group Rev Monty B Sharpton and the Anointed Oreos; Gayla Johnson, an actress and stand-up comedian; and Donna Maine, a L.A.-based clean, corporate comedian and comedy writer.
Also, Richard Weiss, popular comedian, author, comic strip publisher and Coachella Valley resident, who openly shares his pilgrimage from shame and pain, to joy, love and laughter, in person, in his comedic performances and on his website.
Co-sponsors include Community Mental Health Equity Project (CMHEP), Broken Crayons Still Color, California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP), California Department of Public Health and Riverside University Health System Behavioral Health and the African American Family Wellness Advisory Group.
Tickets are on sale for $25 online and at the Improv box office theater. “I know the event will sell out! Purchase your tickets today,” said Clark.
According to Clark, the night promises to be filled with laugher from a line-up of hilarious comedians, but it will also be an opportunity for individuals to talk to mental health professionals, gather mental health resources, network with the community, and enjoy good food and drink.
“Come celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, and help Healthy Heritage continue our mission of removing the stigma of mental health in our communities! Ultimately, assuring us it is okay to not be ok,” said Clark.
This resource fair is also in celebration of our Broken Crayons Still Color Program, an 8-week program created around reducing the stigma of mental health for African American women. The program teaches effective strategies to identify signs of and cope with depression, stress, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse and other mental health challenges.
For a list of Black mental health professionals in the Inland Empire, for a class near you or more information visit BrokenCrayons.org or call (951)293-4240 or email:
hhmmovement9@gmail.com
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About Healthy Heritage
Healthy Heritage Movement, Inc. was founded in 2007 by Phyllis Y. Clark in Southern California. Created to target and address health disparities within the African American community, Healthy Heritage Movement focuses on the wellbeing of African Americans through health education, policy change and community outreach. For more information on Healthy Heritage go to: www.HealthyHeritage.org
The comedy lineup includes:
Gayla Johnson is an actress and stand-up comedian. She’s appeared on such television shows as ABC’s Scandal, Supergirl, Bones, Greys Anatomy, Legions, The Fosters, Young & The Restless, Comedy Central’s Workaholics, and more. She has a diverse background in Theatre and a Degree in Broadcast Communications, she flowed into public speaking and then the challenging field of Standup Comedy. She has made guest appearances on COMICS UNLEASHED, SiTv’s LAFF JAM, INSIDE JOKE, B.E.T. COMIC VIEW, TBS COMEDY FESTIVAL, and the COMEDY TIME Series on YouTube. She’s quoted as saying “Stand-up Comedy is the one thing you can do badly, and no one will laugh at you”.
Donna Maine is an LA-based clean, corporate comedian and comedy writer (or less clean, depending on situation) who performs across the country. Her comedic insights run the gamut, including relationships, kids, medical background and coping with middle-age in a post-millennial world. Donna has been bringing laughter to all the major comedy clubs, the Burbank Comedy Festival, the inaugural Palm Springs Comedy Festival and events everywhere. She incorporates musical comedy and Christian comedy, writes jokes tailored to celebrations or roasts and has hosted numerous shows, including a long-running showcase of female comedians at Flappers Comedy Club. Donna can be heard co-hosting on radio, as well as doing voiceovers, and is a recent Funniest Housewives Finalist. She’s also available for acting roles. To make your event a fun-filled success, book Donna now!
Lamont Bonman has also performed as Rev Monty B. Sharpton in clubs, churches, and concerts across the country. He created the wildly popular group Rev Monty B Sharpton and the Anointed Oreos, known for their hilarious parodies which are featured on their CD Brand New Oldies. They are the Weird Al Yankovic of Gospel. Lamont is a series regular in the upcoming TV series Fifty and Over Club and will also be in the soon-to-be-released feature film Miracle of Tony Davis. From Las Vegas to Broadway, Lamont Bonman shares his gift and shares the Gospel.
Richard Weiss “Drinking led to blackouts for me which I call ‘The 90s’,” Weiss shares to a room full of laughter. “My family got together and gave me a little present… they got me tickets, luggage and a going away party called an ‘intervention’.” Richard Weiss, popular comedian, author, comic strip publisher and Coachella Valley resident, openly shares his pilgrimage from shame and pain, to joy, love and laughter in person, in his comedic performances and on his website.
Professor Willie Davis, Ph.D., Assistant Dean of Loma Linda University’s School of Pharmacy
“Our basic mental health training class teaches people proven ways to approach friends or family members who may seem to be struggling and get them to reach out for professional help,” said Ceseña.
(San Bernardino, Calif.) “I wasn’t sure what I expected to learn from the class I took with the Inland Empire Men’s Mental Health Program,” says Professor Willie Davis, Ph.D., of Loma Linda University’s School of Pharmacy, “but I have to say that it gave me the information I needed to get one of my students the help she needed.”
The Making Hope Happen Foundation offers three free classes through its Inland Empire Men’s Mental Health program for people who would like to help someone they know who seem to be having a hard time in one way or another but aren’t sure how to approach them or what to say that can get them started on feeling better.
Program Manager Gerzon Ceseña says, “Our classes teach people how to recognize the warning signs for things like depression and suicidal thoughts, along with the right and wrong things to say to their friends or family members who seem to be preoccupied with a problem or problems that they may be reluctant to talk about.”
“We offer two Mental Health First Aid courses, one that focuses on adults and one on youth, along with an introductory course we call ‘QPR,’ which stands for Question, Persuade, Refer, that provides insights into helping someone who may be thinking about suicide,” said Ceseña.
The day after Professor Davis took the QPR course, he was approached by a student who was feeling down and thinking about dropping out of the program. “I used what I learned in the QPR class to get her to start talking about a recent trauma she suffered and the thoughts of suicide she was having. She agreed to my suggestion that she get some help.”
“I’m happy to say that since that day, she has gotten counseling and is now feeling better and doing better academically.”
The QPR Gatekeeper course takes about an hour to 90 minutes, depending on how many people are enrolled and the number of questions that are raised during the training. It provides basic essentials that prepare attendees to then go on to either the Youth or Adult Mental Health First Aid course.
Making Hope Happen is a nonprofit foundation linked with the San Bernardino City Unified School District. The nonprofit is based on the philosophy of Gallop Senior Scientist Dr. Shane J. Lopez. Hope allows people to envision a better future, design a path toward that future, and take purposeful steps toward it. As a result of a deep commitment to this quest, the San Bernardino Community and School Alliance (CASA was reorganized and renamed the Making Hope Happen Foundation).
The Foundation’s Inland Empire Men’s Mental Health program offers free mental health training for people who would like to be able to help friends or family members that would like to learn effective ways to approach friends or family members who seem to he has emotional or mental health problems but aren’t sure about what to say or do.
For more information on The IE Men’s Mental Health Program go to the group’s web page at IEMensMentalHealth.org or call (909) 347-7234.
“We are honored to have more Doctors to help serve the thousands of patients who have placed their trust in our network of primary physicians and healthcare professionals in California,” said Dr. Albert Arteaga founder and Chief Executive officer of LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. Left to Right: Dr. Joseph V. Selvarj, Dr. Albert Arteaga, Dr. Cheryl Emoto, and Dr. Felix A. Albano.
“People are tired of virtual doctor visits,” says LaSalle President Dr. Albert Arteaga, “they want to see their doctor in person again, and we want them to know that at LaSalle Medical Associates, the doctor is in.”
(Redlands, Calif.)The Covid-19 pandemic in the USA has many people feeling like they are between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, deaths and hospitalizations are declining, but on the other hand, a new variation is causing rising infections.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the pandemic is receding, but people still need to take precautions.
Dr. Anthony Stephen Fauci OMRI director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President is saying that we are moving from a pandemic to a less virulent phase, the Associated Press reported on April 27.
In other words, Covid is not going away. Like colds or the flu, it may be here to stay, but weaker. But that does not mean we can just pretend everything is like it was before Covid-19.
Dr. Albert Arteaga, the President of LaSalle Medical Associates, says that the health care providers that provide services through his organization’s network, have been seeing patients remotely for the past two years and those patients want personal patient-to-doctor contact again.
“Thankfully,” says Arteaga, “we now are in a position to accommodate in-person patient visits again. At LaSalle, the doctor is in!”
To wear a mask or not wear a mask, that is the question. One person who still wears a mask when she goes to the supermarket said, “I still wear a mask when I’m out in public places because in the two years we’ve all been told we should wear them, I have not had a cold or the flu, let alone the Covid. Masks seem to keep all the viruses away.”
LaSalle Medical Associates operates clinics in Fontana, Hesperia, Rialto, Victorville and two in San Bernardino. La Salle has also been teaming up with community-based organizations, including churches, to administer free Covid vaccine shots.
Maria and Dr. Albert Arteaga. The California Medical Association awarded Dr. Albert Arteaga the “Ethnic Physician’s Leadership Award,” recognizing his contributions to medical care in the Latino community.
For more information or an appointment to a LaSalle Clinic, visit LaSalleMedicalAssociates.com or call (909) 890-0407.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. is one of the largest, independent, and Latino-owned healthcare companies in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The corporate office is in Redlands.
LaSalle operates six clinics employing more than 100 dedicated healthcare professionals, treating children, adults and seniors in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. LaSalle’s patients are primarily served by Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. LaSalle also accepts Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Molina, Care 1st, Health Net, and Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) coverage.
LaSalle is also an Independent Practice Association (IPA) of independently contracted doctors, hospitals and clinics, delivering high quality patient care to approximately 365,000 patients in Fresno, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Joaquin and Tulare counties.
Long time Salvation Army supporters Skip and Cathy Chappell, Hospitality House Director Naomi Goforth and Major Martha Trimmer inspect the Hospitality House freezer.
(Redlands, Calif.) The Salvation Army’s Hospitably House had a big problem. The kitchen and bedrooms were just worn out. The problem was The San Bernardino Corps didn’t have the money to replace the 30-year-old kitchen. What to do?
Scott Carlson, The Salvation Army’s donor relations director thought of long time Salvation Army supporters Skip and Cathy Chappell. The couple have helped other Corps in Sothern California, so Carlson asked for help.
“The Chappell’s were eager to provide funding for a new kitchen when I described the need,” said Carlson. “But when they toured the Hospitably House, met some residents they saw the need for new beds and bedroom furniture as well as new kitchen equipment”.
“All together, they decided to provide funding for all new kitchen equipment, new beds and new bedroom furnishings for all 21 units at the Hospitality house”, said Carlson.
“We are so very happy and honored to receive this wonderful gift. This changes the lives for the better for our families who come to stay in the shelter,” said Hospitably House Director Naomi Goforth.
“We are so happy to help,” said Cathy Chappell. “We saw the need and knew we had to help these families through a very tough time,” she added.
The Hospitality House is The Salvation Army’s homeless shelter for families and single women.
The Hospitality House provided 31,534 nights of shelter to families and children experiencing homelessness. 1,612 children participated in educational and recreational programs last year. Many supportive services are provided with each night of shelter including meals, laundry, hot showers, tutoring and case management.
The people served at The Salvation Army shelter come from all walks of life. The challenges of homelessness touch all ethnic groups, family types and ages. Many people believe the Salvation Army shelter only accepts women and children. But that’s not true. Men are welcome if they are a part of a family unit with children. When it comes to families, children are the piece that is necessary to provide services.
The issue of homelessness continues to disrupt many families in the Inland Empire region. These displaced individuals are thrust into living situations that make them vulnerable to many problems.
Long time Salvation Army supporters Skip and Cathy Chappell donate new bedroom furniture to The Salvation Army Hospitality House. Salvations Army staff and volunteers put the all of the furniture together.
“Without proper and safe daily rest and food, health begins to decline. Anxiety caused by the uncertainty of finding needed resources causes fatigue, stress, and the breakdown of vital family relationships,” said Goforth.
The Salvation Army works with each homeless or transitional housing client to set up a Self-Improvement Plan that will move his or her family toward future independence, resolution of homelessness , and retention of stable housing long term.
For more information on The Salvation Army Hospitably House or to schedule a tour call (909) 888-1336. Donations may always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY.
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About the Salvation Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available.
The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church, and offers evangelical programs for boys, girls, and adults. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world. The Salvation Army has been in existence, since 1865, more than 150 years, and in San Bernardino since 1887, and Redlands since 1885, supporting those in need without discrimination. SAL-ARMY. Our local number is (909) 888-1336.
Please help the Salvation Army obtain more toys and turkeys for children and families in need this Holiday Season. Donations can always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY.
(Redlands, Calif.) The Salvation Army of San Bernardino is in need of frozen turkeys for our Christmas food distribution on December 20th to families in need who have signed up for Christmas assistance.
“Please bring your donation of frozen Turkeys to either our Redlands location at: 838 Alta Street or our Hospitality House located at: 925 W. 10th St., San Bernardino,” said Major Martha Trimmer, Corps Officer of The Salvation Army of San Bernardino.
To sign up for food for your family please apply in person at The Salvation Army 838 Alta Street in Redlands.
“We can help with toys for your dependent children from birth to 12 years old please bring with you your, ID, proof of dependent children in the household i.e.; birth certificate, social security card, or insurance card, and proof of residence such as a utility bill,” said Major Martha Trimmer, Corps Officer of The Salvation Army of San Bernardino.
Majors Kyle and Martha Trimmer, Corps Officer of The Salvation Army of San Bernardino host The Salvation Army of San Bernardino’s Red Kettle Kick Off on Wednesday November 17, 2021at 6:00 PM., at the Bear Springs Events Center in Highland.
“We can also help your entire family with food”, she added.
Monetary donations can be mailed to P.O Box 26, Redlands, CA 92373. Donations can always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY.
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About the Salvation Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) assists rescue workers and evacuees in such disasters as fires.
Serving: San Bernardino, Redlands, Highlands, Rialto, Loma Linda, Colton, Yucaipa, Calimesa, Bloomington, Mentone, Grand Terrace, Muscoy, and the mountain communities.
The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church, and offers evangelical programs for boys, girls, and adults. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been in existence since 1865 and in San Bernardino since 1885, supporting those in need without discrimination. Donations may always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY. Our local number is (909) 888-1336.
The Salvation Army and our vollenteers are ready to help your children with toys and your entire family with food. Volunteers serve meals at the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner celebration.
(Redlands, Calif.) Do your children need food or toys this Christmas? The Salvation Army can help. Please apply in person at The Salvation Army 838 Alta Street in Redlands.
“We can help with toys for your dependent children from birth to 12 years old please bring with you your, ID, proof of dependent children in the household i.e.; birth certificate, social security card, or insurance card, and proof of residence such as a utility bill,” said Major Martha Trimmer, Corps Officer of The Salvation Army of San Bernardino.
“We can also help your entire family with food”, Major Trimmer added.
For more information call the Salvation Army at (909) 888-1336. To donate money by phone call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (800-725-2769). Donate online at: https://sanbernardino.salvationarmy.org
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About the Salvation Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) assists rescue workers and evacuees in such disasters as fires.
Serving: San Bernardino, Redlands, Highlands, Rialto, Loma Linda, Colton, Yucaipa, Calimesa, Bloomington, Mentone, Grand Terrace, Muscoy, and the mountain communities
The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church, and offers evangelical programs for boys, girls, and adults. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been in existence since 1865 and in San Bernardino since 1885, supporting those in need without discrimination. Donations may always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY. Our local number is (909) 888-1336
Carl Dameron, creative director of Dameron Communications. “Sharing your stories is fun. Let me share the secrets behind successful public relations and advertising.
To the people who know and work with him, Carl M. Dameron is a dynamic, hard-driving, award-winning advertising and public relations expert with more than 30 years of success helping organizations and people throughout California meet their goals.
He is also a cancer survivor. In this edition of SoCal Voices, Carl shares the story of starting and growing his company, how he dealt with his cancer diagnosis and offers sage advice for anyone facing a challenge.
Dameron Communications services include: advertising for television, social media, radio, newspaper, magazine, and billboards, web sites, direct mail, mobile web applications, and email. They also deliver award winning public relations press releases, press conferences, media relations, television programs, web sites, opinion editorials, promotions, event creation and management, government relations and community relations.
For more information on Dameron Communications call Carl M. Dameron @ (909) 534-9500.
Help the Salvation Army obtain more toys for children in need by going to the Giving Tree by Dec. 24.
(Redlands, Calif.) Giving a toy to a needy child. It is a small gesture but participating in The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree will make this Christmas memorable for you as well as the children in need. Without your help, some children won’t get anything for Christmas.
“Just pick up an Angel Tree tag and buy a needy child the gift listed on the tag! The Angel Tree matches donors with hundreds of children who are relying on The Salvation Army this year to bring them a Merry Christmas,” said Major Martha Trimmer, Corps Officer of The Salvation Army of San Bernardino.
The San Bernardino Corps Angel Tree is at Inland Center Mall in San Bernardino, 500 Inland Center Drive in San Bernardino, 92408. Donations received here provide toys to children from 400 disadvantaged families in Big Bear, Blue Jay, Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, the mountain communities, Bloomington, Colton, Grand Terrace, Highland, Rialto, Loma Linda, Yucaipa, Mentone, Redlands, and San Bernardino.
“Please support disadvantaged children with a Christmas gift at the Angel Tree by visiting our table in the Inland Center Mall and fulfilling the wishes of a child till December 22nd,” said Major Trimmer.
Shoppers find cards attached to the Angel Tree. These cards include the names and wish lists of needy children whose families cannot afford to buy gifts. Shoppers simply pluck a tag off the Angel Tree and head for the appropriate store to purchase their gift donations, then return it to the Angel Tree volunteers.
Shoppers get to keep the card as an ornament to hang on their own Christmas tree, reminding them of their good deed.
“This is a great way to start a tradition with your family, by selecting a gift for a needy child together. The gifts are based on their individual wishes and for some children, it may be the only gift they receive all year,” said Major Trimmer.
“Lego’s, board games and clothes are just a few items on each child’s wish list,” said Major Trimmer. “Shoppers who participate in the program are encouraged to shop for more than what is needed on the list. I can’t think of a better way for local people including business owners and managers to help the community and spread the spirit of Christmas.”
For more information on the Angel Tree call Steven Pinckney at (909) 792-6868 or visit the tree in the Inland Center Mall in San Bernardino. To donate money by phone call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (800-725-2769). Donate online at: https://sanbernardino.salvationarmy.org
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About the Salvation Army San Bernardino Corps
The Salvation Army may provide emergency services including food; lodging for homeless or displaced families; clothing and furniture; assistance with rent or mortgage and transportation when funds are available. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) assists rescue workers and evacuees in such disasters as fires.
The Salvation Army is an evangelical part of the Universal Christian Church, and offers evangelical programs for boys, girls, and adults. One of the largest charitable and international service organizations in the world, The Salvation Army has been in existence since 1865 and in San Bernardino since 1885, supporting those in need without discrimination. Donations may always be made online at www.salvationarmyusa.org or by calling 1-(800)-SAL-ARMY. Our local number is (909) 888-1336.
by Sean Flynn
Inland Empire residents know from painful experience that America faces an unacceptable level of gun violence. Whether at a workplace in San Bernardino a high school in Palmdale, or in Santa Fe, Texas, far more needs to be done to prevent these tragedies.
As we discuss our options, I would like to point out that there are at least five common-sense solutions that can be enacted immediately to help safeguard students and schools from a repeat of the tragedy in Palmdale. You have probably never heard of them because the political parties have gone to polar extremes and are more interested in finger pointing than proven solutions.
Our fundamental problem is that students and schools have been left defenseless. It wasn’t always like that. When I was growing up in the 1980s and attending junior high and high school in the gang-plagued Los Angeles Unified School District, we had metal detectors to stop students from bringing weapons (both knives and guns) onto campus. It worked and metal detectors are something that we now as a society embrace at airports, concerts, and government buildings.
We need to place metal detectors in schools once again. Nobody should be able to walk casually onto campus with a firearm and shoot children.
Let’s also embrace more recent prevention technologies. Consider the Salto electronic door locks that the Loma Linda Unified School District just installed at every one of its schools.
Each principal in the district now has a mobile app that allows them to lock down their entire campus in just eight seconds if there’s an emergency. Some might object to the $1.4 million cost, but this proven technology comes out to just 8 cents per student per day. That’s a bargain by any measure, especially so when considering how infinitely precious our children are.
Another proven lifesaver is the ShotSpotter acoustical gunshot detection and location system, which uses ordinary microphones to detect and locate gunfire. Within seconds, it can detect that firearms have been discharged, tell authorities the location to within 10 feet, and even tell them if there was more than one shooter.
ShotSpotter is used by more than 90 cities around the world and is credited by the San Francisco Chief of Police with helping to reduce both gun crime and homicides by fifty percent over the past 10 years. We need ShotSpotter at every school in America and in the neighborhoods that surround them.
Fences and metal detectors are the first line of defense. ShotSpotter lets authorities know when something has gone wrong. And Salto allows for instant lockdown. But we must also have trained professionals on site at every school ready to engage and disable if a shooter manages to get past the fences and metal detectors.
So I once again recommend proven solutions. The schools I attended back in the 1980s had armed police officers patrolling the halls and walking the perimeter. They were some of the nicest adults I ever met, but their purpose was simple and meaningful: If anyone tried to harm me, they would stop them…dead if necessary.
Society, of course, also needs to seriously reconsider how it deals with the violently mentally ill and to have a serious talk about the best ways of restricting potential predators from gaining access to firearms. Both of those debates will be heated, but both sides should consider a new type of restraining order that can deny firearms to potential shooters.
It’s called a Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO) and it allows family members and others who are close to a disturbed individual to present real evidence—such as screen shots of social media posts or copies of diary entries—to a local judge who can then issue a 21-day restraining order that allows the police to temporarily deny weapons to the disturbed individual.
California’s GVRO law went into effect in 2018, but California is one of just five states to allow for GVROs. Other states should consider adopting GVROs and citizens should be made aware that GVROs are an important option for those living with potential predators.
The best fence is the one that’s never breached, the best metal detector is the one that’s never set off, and the best Salto system is the one that’s never activated. But until we can 100% deny weapons to the violently mentally ill, we need all of them, as well as ShotSpotters, school police, and GVROs. They are proven, practical, cost effective and would make another Palmdale much less likely. I hope we implement each of them as soon as possible. Our children must be protected.
I live in Redlands. I am a recognized economist, business owner, educator,and Board member on the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association. I am also the author of the best-selling book Economics for Dummiesand the coauthor of the world’s best-selling college textbook, Economics: Principles, Problems, and Policies.
