Community Health Bulletins

After-the-Storm Edition: Staying Cool Without Power About 60,000 people in San Antonio remain without power right now. Heavily affected since Friday: much of 78207, the SA Food Bank, Animal Care Services, SAPL branches at Las Palmas, San Pedro and Bazan, multiple Opportunity Home locations, the Pearsall Park area and part of the Lackland area. Heat indexes (the "feels like" temperature) are expected to reach 104-106 degrees over the next few days. So please check on neighbor

Supporting Others, Sustaining Yourself Here's a timely message for CHW Awareness Week, Aug. 24-28: "You are not expected to carry every client’s hardship alone. Trauma-informed work is sustainable through boundaries, support, and shared responsibility" -- from the attached tipsheet, originally for those who help newcomers but translatable to all our work (Switchboard). Spotlight: Executive Order on Immunizations It's been an eventful National Immunization Awareness Month. Me

What's New: Federal Food and Vaccine Guidance Recently, HHS rolled out a new U.S. Food Pyramid and a new vaccine schedule. Both guidelines are mostly mainstream, with some caveats. Be cautious about some deviations from prior guidance. Change is good and necessary--when backed by science. Food Pyramid: Mainstream: Eat "real food" that is whole and minimally processed. Eat protein, whole grains, and healthy fats--and much less sugar. Avoid sugary drinks, fried foods, and low-

Noticing More Evictions? As of Jan. 1, because of changes made by the last Texas Legislature, courts have fewer tools to delay evictions. Instead of taking 1-2 months, the whole process can now take just weeks. Landlords can send eviction notices by email, if the tenant agreed beforehand. Also, starting Mar. 30, public housing evictions could speed up under a new federal rule. What We Can Do Teach tenants to look for the email clause in their lease--they can opt out if they

Cervical Health Made Simple It's easy to put off screening for cervix cancer – at least 1 in 4 women and people with cervixes do, for many reasons. January is Cervical Health Month, a good time to highlight big changes that are reshaping this field. How Often? Most people need screening only every 3-5 years – not yearly anymore. We used to start at age 18, but the current standard is 21, with some experts even pushing for age 25. The age shifted as we better understood the H

Climate Health Protects Heart Health This American Heart Month, as clean-air standards make headlines, consider that air pollution raises the community-wide rate of heart attacks, heart failure, irregular heartbeat and stroke. This is because our hearts and blood vessels are sensitive to ozone and tiny particles of pollution (called PM2.5). This is especially true if someone already has heart disease. An attached flyer explains pollution's effects. Communities of color are mo

Times Are Trying. Our Mission Remains Essential. CHWs are showing up for the community every day while navigating their own dread, anger, sadness, secondary trauma, and burnout. Commentary: When Fear Enters the Community: Why CHWs Must Be Prepared, Protected, and Supported There's a lot of talk lately about filming immigration enforcement -- doing this can expose abuses, but it also comes with risks. Learn more from Witness (available in multiple languages, as is this tipshee

Colorectal Cancer: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths for people in the U.S. under age 50. Colon cancer survivor and Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, diagnosed at age 46, shares her story here. This Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, encourage people to get screened starting at age 45 or possibly sooner if colon cancer runs in your family. Shareable info: Flyer with risk factors and warning signs (MD Ande

Mea culpa: I misread my calendar before the last email and didn't include National Public Health Week, public health's biggest celebration of the year. Apologies, and hope folks were able to discover and enjoy the many, many happenings throughout the area. Meanwhile, April is also Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month, so let's look at ways to prevent assaults and support survivors. Step Up during Sexual Assault Awareness & Prevention Month Chances are that you know

Steps to Stop Family Violence Last week's mass shooting in Shreveport, La., underscored that domestic violence is deadliest in the immediate weeks and months after a victim leaves an abuser. The abuser and his wife (who survived but remains hospitalized) were separating and had been due in court the next day. Here in Bexar County, an average of 29 people die each year from family violence, based on data over the last decade (Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence). Com

Quick Takes for June Half of Bexar County keeps a gun at home. Young people easily find household firearms, leading to teen suicides and fatal accidents. This Gun Violence Awareness Month, encourage parents to store guns locked, unloaded and separate from ammunition and to use Bexar Responsibly's play date safety checklist. Safe storage is especially important in vehicles, where guns are routinely stolen. June means Men's Health Month. Health Confianza explains what checkups

Rest, Play, Reflect As the year winds down, I hope you each get to step back and take a moment. Here are three resources for your own well-being -- see you in 2026! Quick Vids: "Monday Minute" video playlist on recognizing and recovering from burnout, from EnvisionCHWs.org (#20 to #24, totaling less than 35 mins). And don't miss their Crisis Survival Kit for CHWs and Allies and collection of self-care toolkits for CHWs and CHW supervisors. Online game: CHW Adventure: Mental H

BE FAST / RÁPIDO During A Stroke Your friend, sitting across a table from you, suddenly loses balance and falls to one side. Though they sit back up OK, they seem to struggle staying upright in their seat. You let them know that this may be a sign of a stroke and that you are going to call 911. They ask you to give them a few minutes and tell you that they will call their doctor in a few hours if they still feel unstable. Do you wait? The answer is a hard no, in this scenario

"Floods Don't Care About the Size of Your Truck" Just 6 inches of water can stall most vehicles (look up "hydrolock"), and 18 inches will sweep away SUVs and large trucks. Last summer's catastrophic floods included a flash flood along Perrin Beitel Creek that took 11 lives. This year, let's promote safety before the next heavy rains. Be Prepared Learn important basics with Bexar County's new Floods Don't Care website and the City's Floods site. Share the attached Texas DSHS f

Climate Health Protects Heart Health This American Heart Month, as clean-air standards make headlines, consider that air pollution raises the community-wide rate of heart attacks, heart failure, irregular heartbeat and stroke. This is because our hearts and blood vessels are sensitive to ozone and tiny particles of pollution (called PM2.5). This is especially true if someone already has heart disease. An attached flyer explains pollution's effects. Communities of color are m

What Do Domestic Violence and Homelessness Have in Common? Among people experiencing homelessness in Bexar County, 1 out of every 6 is actively fleeing domestic violence, and 30% identify as survivors of domestic violence. Domestic violence is a key cause of homelessness, and people in violent relationships often stay because they have nowhere else to go--the abuser has cut them off from financial resources, friends and family. Troublingly, domestic violence is increasingly d

"Breast is best," but challenges to starting or sustaining breastfeeding can include: Concerns about breast shape changes: Studies so far show that breast shape is affected by number of pregnancies (even when people only bottle-feed), weight fluctuations, age and smoking (both affect skin elasticity) and having larger breasts. Breastfeeding hasn't been shown to have an effect. For other common breastfeeding myths and facts, click here (AAP) Questions about how to breastfeed,

U.S. alcohol sales traditionally peak in July, and alcohol is by far our nation's most commonly abused substance. For example, the CDC recently reported that more than 1 in 7 women drink alcohol during pregnancy. U.S. Dietary Guidelines One serving of alcohol is 1 can of beer, 1 shot or 1 glass of wine. National guidelines recommend no more than 2 servings a day for men or 1 serving for women. "Binge drinking" is defined as 5 servings at one sitting for men, or 4 servings f

Heat & Sun Safety Did you know? About 1 in 33 housing units in the Five Points area and 1 in 40 in the Harlandale area have no A/C. (Live link to map above: CI:NOW). If the indoor temperature is 95 degrees or more, we recommend getting to a place with A/C, like a store or one of the Places to Stay Cool. If that's not possible, then cool off with fans and water, cold showers, icy drinks, and ice packs. Fans alone can backfire and make you warmer at high temps because they just

What Are Kratom ​and 7-OH? The Bexar County Medical Examiner recently found that a local chef died from a mixture of kratom and alcohol. Kratom-related calls to Poison Control Centers doubled from 2024 to 2025. What Is Kratom? It's the leaf of a tree in the coffee family, traditionally used in a ceremonial tea in Southeast Asia. Depending on the dose, it can act like a stimulant or an opioid. One of its many active compounds is 7‑hydroxymitragynine ("7-OH"), which causes mo