This Week on the Central Coast...
Monterey celebrated its cultural variety, Santa Cruz students revolutionized physical therapy, and Salinas begins to build a mental health center.
Monterey
Local artist named Artist in Residence
Jorge Torres was born and raised on the Monterey Peninsula, growing up in Seaside and living in Marina now. He has been named the first Artist in Residence at the Weston Collective, a photography-based non-profit.
“With his new role he will create a mural as well as 15 photographic works all originally taken in Monterey County.” Torres says his passion is working with children, as he has proven by working at the Community Partnership for Youth for the past thirteen years. He has also taught mural classes at Rancho Cielo.
“According to the Monterey County Arts Council, the creative art sector contributes 1.6 billion dollars to Monterey County, making it a vital part of the economy.” Weston applied for the grant that gave Torres this opportunity. The arts agency for the county plans to meet bi-annually to plan similar roles to Torres’, stating that they want to give artists a platform to share their work.
Fourth annual Chinese Cultural Festival set for October
The Chinese Cultural Festival was established in 2017 by the Monterey Bay Chinese Association. The group created the event to bring awareness to the influence that the Chinese community has had in Monterey’s history.
In 1851, Chinese families came to Monterey and created a fishing village at Point Alones, which is where Hopkins Marine Station now stands. That fishing village was the largest family-based Chinese community in the U.S. at the time and has been credited with starting the fishing industry in the area.
After the Feast of Lanterns ended in controversy, the Monterey Bay Chinese Association assured locals that the Cultural Festival would not endorse cultural appropriation. “Chinese performances will be put on by local Chinese people. Japanese performances will be put on by local Japanese people.” The group wants to highlight the diversity of the Monterey Bay and how different groups can get along in harmony.
The festival will “take place on Sunday, Oct. 16 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Custom House Plaza Monterey.” It is free to the public and will “highlight authentic Chinese art, food, games, cultural displays and folk dances.”
El Charrito opens its first locations in Monterey
In 1965, the Moncada family immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Monterey County. The family had owned a grocery store and bakery in Santa Fe, Mexico where they had begun to fine-tune their recipes and cooking. In 1981, the family had an opportunity to buy a grocery store in Salinas and took it. Soon after, word spread about El Charrito’s food. Long lines formed for their Chile verde, carnitas, and homemade tortillas.
Over the next decades, El Charrito’s foodservice became so popular that the family decided to dedicate more of the business to its prepared foods. The new focus allowed the business to remodel, featuring its menus on large screens and utilizing an app.
Finally, to much anticipation, El Charrito Express opened in Monterey on September 2nd. “Monterey is a different market, but our hope was to take our model from (Salinas) and apply it to that demographic. So far, it seems to be working.”
The family also opened a new concept, called Alejandro’s, which features a Yucatán-inspired menu. Alejandro’s opened last Friday in downtown Monterey, where the former Lallapalooza was located.
Needless to say, the family is proud of where their journey has taken them. “What I take pride in is the fact that my 92-year-old grandmother still comes into the store every single day. And our employees that have been with us for 30, even 40 years. To me, that’s what makes this a family business to be proud of.”
Santa Cruz
Three UCSC alums are revolutionizing telehealth
Aviv Elor, Michael, Powell, and Ash Robbins are all co-founders of Immergo, a tech company focused on bringing physical therapists to their patients digitally via virtual reality. In addition to allowing therapists to connect with their patients in real time remotely, the program also evaluates and provides guidance to a patient’s recovery “by recording key metrics and progress.”
The trio all met while working on a research project to help stroke patients rehabilitate with a virtual reality game. It wasn’t until Elor injured his tricep during a judo match that the group realized the potential of a VR-based physical therapy program.
Immergo Labs will launch a beta platform in January 2023 for their waitlisted users. They hope to launch publicly by the end of 2023.
Salinas
A mental health facility is coming to Salinas
Locals have been puzzled by the new construction in the Laurel Heights area of Salinas. Community officials finally shed some light on their plans for the new building, revealing that it will the site of a mental health facility.
Marni Sandoval, the Monterey County deputy director of behavioral health, said that the community has been asking for this service, citing the pandemic lock-downs for negatively affecting children’s mental health. “From March to October 2020, mental health-related ER visits increased 24% for children ages 5 to 11 and 31% for those ages 12 to 17 compared with 2019 emergency department visits, according to CDC data.”
The facility aims to help children and adults between 0 and 25 years old, but will not turn away adults in-need. Adults who visit the facility will be evaluated and connected to resources that can help them. Though the facility will focus on Medi-Cal-insured residents, they will also provide assistance to the uninsured or people without citizenship.
The facility could be ready by 2024. “For information on mental health and substance abuse services, residents can call (888) 258-6029”.