Zócalo Public Square

Residents of California’s fast-growing Inland Empire—Riverside and San Bernardino counties—endure some of the nation’s dirtiest air and longest commutes. They earn lower wages and work longer hours than others in the state, and many find it’s harder to create time for family and neighbors. Despite these stresses, Inland Empire residents participating in the California Wellness Foundation’s Advancing Wellness poll revealed a community that embraces its diversity and perceives itself optimistically—powerful signs that point to a bright future. Greer Sullivan, director of UC Riverside’s Center for Healthy Communities, Rev. Samuel J. Casey, executive director of Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement, Luz Gallegos, community programs director at TODEC Legal Center, and research economist John Husing visited Zócalo at the Riverside Art Museum to examine what it will take to build the healthy community of the future in the Inland Empire.