24 Oct Together, Residents Weave Tale of a Healthier Richmond

First Person, Tania Pulido

During the past three years that I’ve been working at Urban Tilth, I’ve had experiences that have drastically expanded my skills, development and overall understanding of the world. One such experience came on Sunday, October 21st, when some co-workers and I participated in an inspiring event, organized by the Cornerstone Theater Company and The California Endowment. At the event, attended by local residents and organizations participants shared their personal stories related to health issues in Richmond, stories that Cornerstone is now taking and turning into a short play about the community’s vision for a healthy future.

My own interest in working toward a healthier Richmond stems from my upbringing, and now as a community organizer, I was happy to be in a room with so many community leaders, fellow youth, and people who care about the same issues I do.

I can remember, as a very young child, eating lots of junk food – things like Cup O’ Noodles, Hot Cheetos, soda and chips. I ate this kind of food every day, sometimes even for breakfast. No matter how hard my mother tried to get us to eat healthier, my diet consisted of a lot of empty calories.

Now that I’m older and understand health issues better, I feel a sense of responsibility to educate other young people and adults so that they can learn from my experiences. I attended the Cornerstone event with this in mind, and with the goal of connecting with other individuals and organizations to help educate people about the relationship between food and health.

I was inspired to hear the stories and perspectives of other people in attendance. I especially enjoyed a performance by two young spoken word artists from RAW Talent. The two young men wrote and performed a piece about health in Richmond that really truly captured the problems our community is facing.

I was very pleased by the event and I’m even more excited to be part of a community initiative that has engaged such a brilliant, talented, and inspiring group of people. I know that all of the stories we shared that day will come together to make for a great play, and if we can channel all of the passion that we hold for our community, I know we’ll succeed in making Richmond the healthy place that we all dream it can be.