In March 2021, cities across the nation breathed a sigh of relief as an economic package that included $65 billion for municipalities finally made its way through Congress and was signed into law. The American Rescue Plan Act provided badly needed direct and flexible funds to cash-strapped cities on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.

The very things that have made fire departments successful — a strong sense of brotherhood, an emphasis on measurable operational results, and a close living-working environment — are often the very things that make attempts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) inside fire stations uniquely challenging.

In 2015, Fremont’s city council committed to a bold goal: Reduce traffic-related fatalities to zero. Even though the city was already a national leader in traffic safety, this new mindset forced officials to rethink their approach to traffic safety. Known as Vision Zero, Fremont’s traffic safety plan focuses on integrating human error into transportation systems, instead of reducing it.

In Police Chief Chris Catren’s opinion, there’s nothing novel about improving public trust. “Everyone wants to make building trust like it’s a difficult, secretive process, but it’s not….It’s just a matter of doing the basic things routinely.” 

Thanks to a Youth Development and Empowerment grant from the city of Sacramento, Block by Block will spend the 2021 fiscal year engaging the neighborhoods of Meadowview and Valley Hi through community journalism and art mapping. Conceived in 2015, Block by Block seeks to enhance the quality of life in Sacramento’s urban core through hyper-local…