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Policy Platform

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RISE – Statewide Rural Coordinating Center

Who We Are

RISE supports rural tobacco projects by leveraging resources, providing leadership training and opportunities, and offering educational materials specially designed to assist rural communities.

Rural communities are full of hardworking people who value strength and independence. Tobacco companies understand this, so they package and advertise their deadly products to play to values of self-reliance and resiliency with images such as cowboys, hunters and race car drivers.

Big Tobacco takes advantage of weaker tobacco licensing laws in rural communities–aggressively marketing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, like chew.

GOALS

(1) Create and disseminate a Rural Communities Policy Platform to policymakers, community champions, and key stakeholders

(2) Develop new tobacco control leaders from among California’s rural
communities

(3) Build capacity within rural communities to engage in tobacco control policy advocacy through a series of Tobacco Control Learning Institutes

RISE’s Policy Platform on Reducing the Impact of Tobacco on Rural Communities

Check out the policy platform

RISE’s Statement on White Privilege, Social Justice and Equity in Rural California

Read our statement

Policy Platform

Policy Platform

Policy Platform Executive Summary

Download Summary PDF

Policy Platform (Full)

Download Full Platform PDF

Resources

← RISE

RISE – Statewide Rural Coordinating Center

Who We Are

RISE supports rural tobacco projects by leveraging resources, providing leadership training and opportunities, and offering educational materials specially designed to assist rural communities.

Rural communities are full of hardworking people who value strength and independence. Tobacco companies understand this, so they package and advertise their deadly products to play to values of self-reliance and resiliency with images such as cowboys, hunters and race car drivers.

Big Tobacco takes advantage of weaker tobacco licensing laws in rural communities–aggressively marketing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, like chew.

GOALS

(1) Create and disseminate a Rural Communities Policy Platform to policymakers, community champions, and key stakeholders

(2) Develop new tobacco control leaders from among California’s rural
communities

(3) Build capacity within rural communities to engage in tobacco control policy advocacy through a series of Tobacco Control Learning Institutes

RISE’s Policy Platform on Reducing the Impact of Tobacco on Rural Communities

Check out the policy platform

RISE’s Statement on White Privilege, Social Justice and Equity in Rural California

Read our statement

Resources

Follow Us

Need help quitting?

The California Smokers’ Helpline (Kick It CA) offers free telephone counseling and materials to quit smoking, as well as free nicotine patches to eligible callers.

Kick It California | English: 1-800-300-8086 | Spanish: 1-800-600-8191

Resource Categories

Click a link below to scroll to that category.

Educational Materials by RISE

Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California

TECC has a number of educational materials for rural populations available for free download.

Rural Tobacco Prevention Resources

Find information about rural communities and best practices to reduce and prevent the use of commercial tobacco.

Rural Community Success Stories

The Environment & Tobacco

Learn how commercial tobacco products, including cigarettes and vape devices, harm the environment through production, use, and improper disposal.

Tobacco Topic Areas

Find information about issues related to commercial tobacco use, including secondhand smoke, e-cigarettes/vaping, and more.

Big Tobacco’s Targeting

Learn about the tactics the tobacco industry uses to target rural communities and how this targeting has impacted rates of tobacco use.

Tobacco & the Retail Environment

Learn about the tactics used by the tobacco industry to make their products easier to purchase and policy options to counteract these tactics.

Media & Communications for Tobacco Prevention

Find resources on the best practices of creative effective messaging about tobacco use for rural communities.

Chewing Tobacco & Emerging Products

Find information about chew, cessation resources, as well as other emerging tobacco products.

RISE

Tobacco Prevention

RISE

RISE – Statewide Rural Coordinating Center

Who We Are

RISE supports rural tobacco projects by leveraging resources, providing leadership training and opportunities, and offering educational materials specially designed to assist rural communities.

Rural communities are full of hardworking people who value strength and independence. Tobacco companies understand this, so they package and advertise their deadly products to play to values of self-reliance and resiliency with images such as cowboys, hunters and race car drivers.

Big Tobacco takes advantage of weaker tobacco licensing laws in rural communities–aggressively marketing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, like chew.

GOALS

(1) Create and disseminate a Rural Communities Policy Platform to policymakers, community champions, and key stakeholders

(2) Develop new tobacco control leaders from among California’s rural
communities

(3) Build capacity within rural communities to engage in tobacco control policy advocacy through a series of Tobacco Control Learning Institutes

RISE’s Policy Platform on Reducing the Impact of Tobacco on Rural Communities

Check out the policy platform

RISE’s Statement on White Privilege, Social Justice and Equity in Rural California

Read our statement

Ubuntu Project

Ubuntu Project

Ubuntu Project

The Ubuntu Project, funded by the California Department of Social Services, is a state initiative that supports the Stop the Hate Program, focusing on aiding victims and families affected by hate crimes. 

It operates in the high desert communities of Southern California, specifically targeting African American youth

The initiative is historic as it marks the first state allocation of funding to address hate and its consequences. 

Ubuntu derives from the African proverb, “I am because we are”.   

The project aims to provide support through engagement with arts, leadership, and healing-centered approaches to promote resilience and social and emotional wellness.

As a Stop the Hate Grantee, Ubuntu conducts healing circles, art projects, and community outreach, representing unity and a proactive response against hate, bias, and harm in the African American community.

Healing Circles

Provide the space to encourage personal healing journeys, share, and learn how to build relationships internally and externally

Bystander Training and Healing

Leadership and personal development opportunities for supportive professionals

Art Engagement

Engage youth in the arts as a tool for healing, expression, and connection

Youth Coalition

Engage youth in advocacy, leadership, and civic engagement

Ubuntu Circle

Ubuntu Healing Circles are facilitated gatherings where individuals come together to share their stories, feelings, and experiences in a supportive and non-judgmental environment.

The aim is to create a safe space where participants can feel heard, understood, and supported. Healing circles are typically facilitated by a trained professional, but they can also be led by community members.

We need to normalize Healing Circles. As a people we hold circle all the time. Family dinners, the beauty and barbershops just to name a few.

Youth Coalitions

Establish Youth Leadership Coalitions (YLC) in the High Desert Communities (Hesperia, Phelan, Adelanto, Victorville, AppleValley, etc.) for African American youth. Guide youth in engaging with their peers in the development and implementation of community solutions surrounding social justice issues, including the disproportionate suspension of African American youth and underperforming academic rates for students of color.

Art Engagement

With the support of African American Art Ambassadors, engage African American youth in art expression, such as painting, hot wax fabric art, spoken poetry, rap, song, theater and host an annual art showcase and exhibit around the topics of anti-hate and healing.

It’s SAFE to REPORT!!! For more information, see our RESOURCES tab below.

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Resources

Ubuntu Project

Resources

The Importance of Reporting a Hate Crime

Hate crimes affect families, communities, and at times, the entire nation.

Why report hate crimes?

The Hate Crimes Reporting Gap is the significant disparity between hate crimes that actually occur and those reported to law enforcement.

It is critical to report hate crimes not only to show support and get help for victims, but also to send a clear message that the community will not tolerate these kinds of crimes.

Reporting hate crimes allows communities and law enforcement to fully understand the scope of the problem in a community and put resources toward preventing and addressing attacks based on bias and hate.

Events

Ubuntu Project

Events

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