“Everyone should be given the option to feed their baby human breast milk,” says Janel Silva, a lactation consultant and co-founder and director of Human Milk Connection, a new nonprofit that helps families access pasteurized donor human milk.
“There’s a knowledge gap that exists. People don’t know about (donor milk) and think the only option is formula,” she continues. “We’re working on getting the word out.”
The temperature hovered around 100 degrees in August when feral cat trapper Maria Calderon took three homeless kittens to the city’s Front Street Animal Shelter.
Calderon trapped the 6-week-old felines earlier that day. “One had an upper respiratory infection—discharge coming from his eye. I wanted to get them off the street,” says Calderon, who has been trapping in Sacramento for two years.
With Front Street’s policy to take only ill and injured cats, Calderon expected the shelter to give the kittens a safe haven and medical treatment.
That was not the case.
Gov. Gavin Newsom included $50 million in the 2020-21 state budget to stop the killing of adoptable dogs and cats in California animal shelters.
It was a bold move. Then came the hard part. How should those dollars be spent? Where can they make the biggest impact?
Here’s where things went wrong. The governor assigned the responsibility of dishing out the money to the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program.
Tim Collom was in his East Sacramento realty office, a cup of iced coffee at hand, discussing art, his favorite subject.
Collom paints California landscapes characterized by bright colors and a variety of locations.
“I love California and I think it’s been the source of inspiration,” he says. “There are so many things, literally every single thing you think you can paint is here. The Sierras, Lake Tahoe, Sacramento Valley, the Bay Area, Los Angeles. Anything you want is in California.”
Last year, Collom received a commission to create seven paintings for Wells Fargo Center on Capitol Mall. The artworks were painted in oil on wet canvases.
Anyone faced with a health care crisis has probably experienced how the nation’s health care system doesn’t adequately serve the patients it’s supposed to serve.
“Health care has evolved from a personal, human support network to a rush-through of doctor appointments, a push-through at the pharmacy and fragmented communications with other sub-specialty medicine,” says Dr. Sarah Almilli, founder and CEO of ELAK and a licensed advance practice pharmacist.
As the 9/11 anniversary approaches, the third annual Sacramento Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk supports local first responders and helps remind us of brave acts 22 years ago.
“9/11 is a very personal day, in my opinion. It means something different to everybody,” says Mary Parra, volunteer race director. “What really makes this event unique is we have replica badges of all 343 firefighters who lost their lives in 9/11.”
The local run/walk is Nov. 4 at William Land Park.
“To me, New York feels so far away, but the very first year, a woman came up and found her boyfriend’s best friend’s badge,” Parra says. “She started crying and said it was so special. It’s a way for people to embrace someone who was special to them.”
