Center for Human Services-Ceres Partnership hosted a Spanish community workshop on Friday, March 11 to discuss the Ceres General Plan update.

The Ceres General Plan hasn't been updated since 1997.
The workshop was hosted in partnership with Cultiva La Salud and the city of Ceres to increase community participation in the city planning process. The objective of the workshop was to give community members a platform to voice opinions about Ceres' future.

Imelda Castellanos, an employee of Ceres Partnership, expressed excitement about what the workshop means for the engagement and participation of the Spanish-speaking community.

"It is a start of great things to come," said Castellanos. "I hope community members have the passion to share the message and bring people to the next workshop, we want them to see the impact their voices have and know that people will listen."

There was a large turn-out of community members who participated in brainstorming the changes they would like to see made in Ceres. Common themes were more parks, places to exercise and options for healthy eating in town in place of fast food restaurants.

Ceres Partnership has teamed up with Cultiva La Salud to help make a healthy lifestyle more accessible in the Ceres community. Cultiva La Salud is a three-year program of the Public Health Institute focused on creating programs to make living a healthy lifestyle easier in the San Joaquin Valley by increasing availability of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as options for physical activity.

To learn more about the Ceres General Plan update and find out when the next community workshop will be held visit: www.ceresgeneralplanupdate.com.