Sons and Brothers Camp: Empowering Young Men of Color

The Power of Stories is an archive of projects submitted every year to Building Healthy Communities (BHC) Statewide Convening. It showcases work created throughout California highlighting the power of individual and collective efforts to promote health and demonstrates how stories have the power to re-imagine and transform our communities. Produced in partnership with the California Endowment.

Project submitted by: Building Healthy Communities Fresno

Project summary: In Spring of 2014 Fresno Sons and Brothers Camp brought together a group of young men from Fresno, Merced and South Kern County in California's Central Valley. The young men participated in a camp dedicated to the empowerment of young men of color. The camp held workshops on a variety of topics such as building personal self-esteem, outdoor team building exercises, and advocacy towards critical local issues.

BHC site: Fresno

This video produced by Sons and Brothers youth participant Marco Ocana -- documents the power of connection and how barriers can be broken when facing adversity.

Marco has been involved with Fresno Building Healthy Communities and Fresno's Alliance for Boys and Men of Color for two years. He is an advocate for the community, specifically in the area of health care, where he has been a vocal in Fresno BHC's #Health4AllFresnans campaign. He was recently published in The Fresno Bee where he supported health care for all people, regardless of immigration status. He currently works for Fresno Barrios Unidos, promoting health care for young people.