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PAGE 74 emergency supplies, such as personal protective equipment and to-go containers for community food distribution. Based on recent and anticipated effects of climate change, nonprofits projected a growing need for cooling and warming centers. Families also expressed concern about their increased exposure to poor air quality due to fires in California, and highlighted a need for air filters and protective masks. Concerns about climate and the natural environment, including drought, heat waves, and wildfire smoke were also reflected in the 2022 Stanford Community Health Needs Assessment.11 Nonprofits need funding and space to stockpile emergency supplies including shelf- stable food and water. VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS As noted above, JSI and the advisory groups frequently discussed the extent to which recommendations should be city-specific versus regional. As with the findings, the data drove the process and, without exception, recommendations from community members, nonprofit executives and staff, and advisory groups were regional in focus. Participants and advisors felt that a regional strategy would prevent service duplication and be more efficient and effective at creating upstream sustained change. Recommendations are divided into approach recommendations, which address community or organizational need (i.e., how the work is done), and actionable recommendations which are more specific, targeted strategies to meet discrete community and organizational needs (i.e., what work is done). Common to all recommendations is a deep commitment to a collaborative, holistic, regional approach that is grounded in this report’s theoretical frameworks, which are further described in the implementation processes. Approach Recommendations Approach Recommendation 1: Implement North Star Questions The EAPAC and Steering Committee had two joint meetings in September and October 2023. During these meetings, participants reviewed and discussed the guiding theoretical values & framework and emergent qualitative findings and recommendations. This conversation illuminated the need to create a series of grounding questions to guide implementation plan development. These became North Star questions, as they are meant to provide a way to ensure all efforts and strategies are focused on an overarching goal (e.g., the health of the regional EASTERN ALAMEDA COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES NEEDS ASSESSMENT and all members therein). They are intended as a constant reference point for decision-making, helping to steer the direction of the work and maintain coherence across programs and initiatives. These questions were developed by JSI Project Team members, then validated by City staff, EAPAC members, and the Steering Committee. We recommend that service providers and city staff use the North Star questions to guide all programmatic and policy considerations and funding decisions to ensure a multi-sector and collaborative perspective. We also recommend that future efforts be made to develop metrics to measure how well an intervention fulfills the criteria set forth in the questions below. •Is there a way to involve community members in implementing this recommendation? •Does this recommendation impact a broad range of Tri-Valley residents and ensure that any individual—regardless of education, class, culture, race, ethnicity, etc.—is able to receive services? •Do service providers have the capacity to see if there are external funding possibilities for this recommendation? •Does this recommendation focus on individual, community, or systems level impact or on some combination of these? •Does this recommendation encourage collaboration and connection (especially across sectors)? •Does this recommendation use language that perpetuates power imbalances? •Are community members empowered and encouraged to access said services without facing any major barriers? Page 132 of 554