Rosario Reyes, widow of Wilfredo Navares, stands in front of the Larry Itliong Resource Center in Poplar, where the couple received food and support during his illness.

POPLAR – Poplar youth went before the Poplar Community Service District regular board meeting on Thursday evening to address what they would like to see in Poplar’s new park. On the agenda were discussions regarding the park’s grant and the park’s blue print. The youth spoke during the Public Comments segment of the meeting.

Support Farmworker Children or Deliver Gifts to: Attn: Farmworker Children’s Toy Drive 14665 Road 192, Poplar, Ca. 93257

“We had the kids all lined up for the vaccines. We were about to start when we heard someone shouting into a microphone to get out,” said Mari Perez-Ruiz, executive director of Central Valley Empowerment Alliance Services who was hosting the event.

The first ever Town Hall in the Central Valley results in an additional $500,000.00 to migrant literacy in Tulare County

“We must not allow ourselves to be willfully blind to the realities happening today on the Tule River,” said Arturo Rodriguez, communications/organizing director for Central Valley Empowerment Alliance. More importantly, our own conscience must be motivation enough to address the needs of the humans who call the river home.

A large Tulare County homeless encampment is taking the sheriff's department to court to defend what they see as their home and a safe place to isolate amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Homeless residents in the southern end of the central San Joaquin Valley have filed a lawsuit against the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office for attempting to clear out their encampment.

Trump’s harsh rhetoric, competitive elections, and efforts to get out the vote all led to significant gains in Latino voter registration in 2020.

“The housing crisis is big, and it hasn’t been talked about,” said Mari Perez-Ruiz, chair of the California Democratic Renters Council. “We have found that Prop 21 offers solutions to address the housing crisis.”

With a population of 2,500, you could say the Tulare County community of Poplar is so small that it could easily to be overlooked when it comes to government help in dealing with all the consequences of the current coronavirus pandemic.

That is why Mari Pérez-Ruíz and Arturo Rodríguez, both with the Central Valley Empowerment Alliance, are kept busy at the Larry Itliong Resource Center handing out food and needed supplies to the homeless and those on the verge of having no home. They also arrange for teachers to help students with at-distance learning for the upcoming school year.