Meet Breathe California of the Bay Area, Golden Gate, and Central Coast (Breathe California). Breathe California is a small non-profit making a big impact in California’s Bay Area by using NHLBI’s lung disease research to help inform and advocate for those it serves. With only 14 staff members, Breathe California combats lung conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) through education and outreach. It also advocates for environmental causes that improve air quality and works with hundreds of volunteers, community-based organizations, and local leaders to extend its reach.
Fast facts: Breathe California is part of the Breathe Better Network, coordinated by NHLBI’s Learn More Breathe Better Program®. The national lung health education program has helped fund initiatives across the nation to raise awareness for and support people with COPD. Thanks to Learn More Breathe Better, Breathe California launched its Better Breathing with COPD in the Bay Area program, which trains community health workers to give presentations on lung health and COPD.
Sweet inspiration. Making connections with people through Breathe California is a big motivator for Margo Leathers Sidener, M.S., CHES., the organization’s deputy executive director and former CEO. For more than 42 years, Margo has used NHLBI lung disease research in as much of her programming as possible. For example, new research findings on long COVID, asthma data, and a link to NHLBI’s COPD Caregiver’s Toolkit were all recently included in Breathe California’s agency newsletter to nearly 15,000 people. Margo enjoys making in-person connections to turn those findings into educational conversations. “My favorite thing was going to our Better Breathers Club meetings. I saw people who had COPD learn so much and they were so thankful,” she says.
Big impact. The Learn More Breathe Better program has been particularly helpful in paving a way for Breathe California to serve Spanish-speaking communities with limited access to lung health resources. Breathe California has trained dozens of promotoras, health workers who go into these communities and talk with families using educational materials translated by NHLBI. For example, promotoras visit rural areas to teach COPD prevention methods to farmworkers who may be at a higher risk. Promotoras, in turn, train others to do the same. The result: a health education network that extends to hundreds of families.
Bright future. Doing better work and reaching more people is a top priority for Breathe California. The organization hopes to continue using NHLBI’s latest research findings to help reduce lung disease and cancer. Breathe California is also looking to mitigate newer lung problems like long COVID, using NHLBI’s developing findings to conduct local events and develop resources for those affected. Breathe California’s other growing programs address climate change, and anti-tobacco and anti-vaping campaigns.