Attack on America: Implications for the Immigrant Community

NCEC organized and hosted a public forum to discuss the effects of the events of September 11, 2001 on Latinos and immigrants in the Yakima Valley. Experts in the fields of immigration law, human rights and refugee justice spoke, and the public commented and asked questions. Participants included Mateo Adams, Director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project; Maritza River, of the American Civil Liberties Union; Roberto Caldera representing the Mexican Consulate; Alfonso Pineda, Regional Director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and Antonio Ginetta, Director of the Washington State Commission for Hispanic Affairs. The forum was broadcast live on KDNA.

Funded by the Washington Commission for the Humanities

Essential Academic Learning Standards

In 2000 KDNA helped the Sunnyside School District and the Migrant Students Records System to inform parents about the new Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) testing program, and advise them how they might assist their children in improving study habits and further their children's likelihood of success in school. (Eventually successful completion of the high school WASL will become a graduation requirement.)

KDNA produced a series of ten 30 minute programs, public service announcements for use on commercial radio stations, cassette tapes with information on education reform for distribution to parents, and facilitated two educational seminars.

"I look forward to working with you again in a continued collaborative effort to provide the communities we serve with the optimum opportunities for learning. Thank you for your commitment to family involvement in education", Dahlia S Candanoza, Parent Services Coordinator, Migrant Education Regional Office, ESD 105.

Substance abuse prevention

Winner Washington State Exemplary Substance Abuse Prevention Award, 2000

During 2000 KDNA produced an intensive Spanish language radio outreach campaign on the issues, dangers, and prevention of substance abuse. The project included 8 informational capsules, 5 mini-dramas, and 5 on-hour programs of interviews and live call-in participation with experts. Primary funding for the project came from the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse of the Department of Social and Health Services.

Access to Health Care in the Yakima Valley

In 1998, a grant from Sound Partners for Community Health, a program of the Benton Foundation, enabled KDNA to collaborate with the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic and the Department of Social and Health Services, to inform the community about the impact of welfare reform on health care. The project included production of 12 informational capsules (30 to 60 seconds in duration) and mini-dramas (on-air dramatizations) educating people about prenatal care, preventive health screening, nutrition, the state's Basic Health Plan, and how these services could be accessed.

Click here to see details at Sound Partners

Winner National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Community Impact Award, 2001

A continuation of the 1998 Sound Partners project, in 2000 KDNA and the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic were joined by Providence Health System of Central Washington, and began producing a weekly one-hour program, Comunidades Saludables, on issues pertinent to Latinos, with emphasis on health-care accessibility.

Click here to see details at Sound Partners

Entre Amigas

Winner National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Community Impact Award, 2000

In 1999 Radio Cadena developed a radio talk show which focused on the social demands and health issues faced by women. Entre Amigas, hosted by Ninfa Gutierrez, was a weekly program providing information on basic medical care.

Warehouse workers in the Yakima Valley

Winner National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Community Impact Award, 2000

Farmworkers are central to the agricultural economy of the Yakima Valley, yet they endure living and employment conditions workers in other industries rarely encounter. In 1999 the US Immigration and Naturalization Office ordered 13 Yakima area warehouses to fire approximately 1,700 workers it claimed were working illegally. KDNA produced a a series of programs covering the story and informing workers of their rights and choices.

Partnership for Learning

Winner of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Community Impact Award, 1999

KDNA was joined by Seattle's Partnership for Learning in a project to produce a variety of Spanish language communication tools to encourage parents to participate in their childrens' education. The project created informational capsules, mini-dramas, prerecorded and call-in programs, as well as outreach campaigns in which KDNA staff appeared and presented at migrant conferences, health fairs, and parent-teacher meetings.

The Annie E Casey Foundation has published a detailed description of this project in their Technical Assistance Resource Guide entitled Using Strategic Communication to Support Families. Click here learn more about Partnership for Learning.

Buena Survey Project

Winner of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters' Community Impact Award, 1999

Buena is a small town in need of an improved fresh water supplu and sewar system. KDNA assisted in getting the town's largely Hispanic population to participate in the planning process.

Gritos del Alma

Cries of the Soul was a first time collaborative research project of KDNA, Jack Straw Productions, and the Washington State Arts Commission (WSAC). Honoring master musicians in Washington's Mexican and Chicano communities, the project culminated in a concert, 10/03/1993 (at the KDNA building), featuring Trinidad Marquez, Guadalupe Guzman and Los Guzmanes, Roberto Rangel y Revancha, Los Campesinos de Michoacán, Mariachi Guanajuato, Los Astros del Norte, and Los Campos. Click here for more information.

The WSAC has the book, Gritos del Alma, available on line. Click here to read it (English and Spanish)

La Esperanza del Valle

Winner National Educational Film and Video Festival Silver Apple Award, 1994

Combining the media's of radio, foto, and video-novela, La Esperanza del Valle (The Hope of the Valley) educated Latino youth and their parents about the risks of substance abuse.  This was a collaborative production of KDNA, NCEC, the Novela Health Foundation, the University of Washington, and the National Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

To learn more, or purchase, click on Novela Health.

Raizes Musicales

In 1990, KDNA and the Yakima County Museum cosponsored Raizes Musicales, which included performances by Lydia Mendoza and Flaco Jimenez.

Tres Hombres Sin Fronteras

Winner of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Community Service Award, 1990

(CPB's first award to a non-English production.)

Tres Hombres Sin Fronteras (Three Men Without Borders) was produced with the assistance of the Novela Health Foundation and the California Community Foundation, this drama educated migrant farm workers about the danger of AIDS. Tres Hombres is cited elsewhere on the web: Lecture by Ross F Conner, Ph.D, associate professor of social ecology and medicine at UC Irvine; Misery Without Borders, an article in the East Bay Express, February 16, 2001, by Kara Platoni; and in Migración y SIDA en México y América Central, published by the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública de México.

To learn more, or purchase, click on Novela Health.