Good morning and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter.
It’s Wednesday, May 12. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you the latest roundup of Orange County news and events.
Arguably the most pressing challenge of this past pandemic year has been for those who set healthcare policy, hand-in-hand with those who carry out programs associated with those policies, to fully inform the public of safe practices, vaccination offerings and resources that are available to them.
In Orange County, where the Latino population has been hit especially hard over the course of the COVID-19 crisis, outreach efforts have become critical.
My colleague Lilly Nguyen looked into a local program, a group of bilingual workers who are going door-to-door to connect lower-income families, many of them Latino, with services such as mental health or rental assistance, food resources and, more recently, to share information on COVID-19 and how to get the vaccines if they’re interested.
With the artistic donation of a local artist, hope is rendered in Newport Beach
Cancer survivor Frank Di Bella, right, stands with contemporary abstract artist Leonardo Cruz Melo in front of an artwork created by Cruz Melo at City of Hope Newport Beach on Thursday.
(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)
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City of Hope Newport Beach is just a couple of blocks away from Fleming’s Steakhouse at Fashion Island.
The two places are more connected than one might think.
Now 40, Leonardo Cruz Melo has been working at Fleming’s since he was a teenager. The bartender is also a contemporary artist, and the restaurant displays his paintings on its walls.