• Michelle Grace Steinberg, MS, producer/director, cinematographer, and primary editor of A PLACE TO BREATHE (2020) and BEYOND RECOGNITION (2014) in partnership with producer Robyn Bykofsky, in their production company Underexposed Films. Since 2009, Michelle has also been the nutritionist and herbalist at Street Level Health Project in Oakland, CA, a bilingual free clinic where she works collaboratively with community health workers, medical providers, and mental health practitioners to provide culturally responsive care to uninsured immigrant communities. She was on the Board of Directors of Integrative Medicine for the Underserved and won the American Herbalist Guild 2015 Award for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. Michelle has a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from Wesleyan University and a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport.
  • Maria Vicente, Mam community health worker and Interpreter at Street Level Health Project in Oakland, CA. She is originally from Santiago Chimaltenango, Guatemala. She worked previously as a nursing assistant in the municipality of Cuilco Huehuetenango, serving the Indigenous community by offering general health consultations, vaccinations, and prenatal care counseling.
  • Dorcas Grigg-Saito, CEO of Lowell Community Health Center. Dorcas worked for 20 years serving the multi-cultural community of Lowell, Massachusetts. In 2000, she worked with the community and Sonith Peou to start the health center’s Metta Health Center to improve access to care for the Cambodian and Lao communities. She was an adviser for production of the film, A Place To Breathe, and was an interviewee as well.
  • Yania Escobar, who was born in Uruguay and came to the United States when she was thirteen years old. She has always been interested in healing work and taught yoga in Spanish when she worked at Street Level Health Project serving a predominantly immigrant community. There she met her partner Edgar and filmmaker Michelle at a time that she was starting her nursing education, which is what we see in the film.

PANEL MODERATOR

  • Zarin Noor, a pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Primary Care clinic. She came to the US at the age of 5 as a refugee from Afghanistan. Her experience as an immigrant has influenced her educational and career path. She is the Director of the International Clinic within the Primary Care clinic, which focuses on the medical care of immigrant and refugee pediatric patients. She is part of the founding team of the Center of Excellence in Immigrant Child Health and Wellbeing. The Center focuses on research, training, education, advocacy, and policy specific to the immigrant pediatric patients.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS FOR THE RESILIENT BEGINNINGS NETWORK, CCI

  • Sheshashree Seshadri, Bay Area Community Health. Bay Area Community Health was formed in 2020 off the strength of southern Alameda County’s Tri-City Health Center and Santa Clara County’s Foothill Community Health Center. Formed during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bay Area Community Health (BACH) brings more than 70 years of combined service to the area that stretches from Union City to Gilroy.
  • Alfonso Apu, director of behavioral health at Community Medical Centers, based in Stockton. CMC is a growing network of neighborhood health centers serving over 100,000 patients in San Joaquin, Solano and Yolo Counties, making it one of the area’s largest safety net providers. CMC offer integrated medical, dental, behavioral health, and supportive services.
  • Omoniyi Omotoso, MD, Lifelong Medical Care. The health center provides high-quality health, dental, and social services to underserved people of all ages, creates models of care for the elderly, people with disabilities and families, and advocates for continuous improvements in the health of its communities.