Every community must find its own unique way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, to unite against all odds and stand strong together. Though social distancing has made it difficult for many cities to find ways to connect, Chula Vista City Council candidate Henry Martinez has done an outstanding job of helping residents maintain a sense of community.
Martinez has helped unite a group of neighbors in Eastlake to support each other through social media during the pandemic. He created the facebook page “Eastlake – Support COVID-19” in conjunction with Melody Lopez, Jason Anderson, and the Marlow Martinez foundation, to help Chula Vista residents attain supplies like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and food. Their latest mission delivered over 2,000 loafs of bread to Chula Vista Otay Ranch, Heritage Park residents, and Imperial Beach VFW 5477 Military Veterans personnel.
The Eastlake page is acting as a Public Regional Operation Center for the community, growing to over 5,500 members in just two weeks. Martinez hosts regular video conferences with the page’s members on the Zoom app to plan for future missions with the community. Additionally, he has created a COVID-19 pandemic survey to identify and take action of the needs of Chula Vista residents during this challenging time. You can access it here to communicate your troubles and suggest solutions.
Right now, Chula Vista Christian University is working with Martinez to provide free tutoring sessions for high schoolers in the area. Many members of Martinez’s community homeschool their children and hope to offer their support to parents who feel ill-equipped to homeschool now. The group is also exploring an early launch of their first responders program to help meet the growing need for EMTs, paramedics, and medical personnel.
Chula Vista is grateful to have such outstanding support from Martinez, along with the group of helpful citizens he’s gathered through his efforts to truly help his community.
