Living Better
We believe that healthier ways to eat, grow, and cook food should come from one another.
We believe that great potential lies in the vast cooking and gardening experiences of the older generations in the diverse Southeast Asian community.
SEACA staff and community volunteers teach classes for cooking food dishes, living healthy, and gardening. We provide food and materials at no cost to members who participate in these classes.
Join us Tuesdays 3-5pm at Church of the Epiphany 2808 Altura St. Los Angeles, CA 90031
How it Started
The idea to develop SEACA’s community health curriculum was created in response to a survey conducted in 2008 by SEACA students at Alpine Recreation Center, a popular community space in Los Angeles’ Chinatown that has one of the highest densities in the city. Based on survey results, students found that existing programs at the center were not relevant to the community. Rather, survey respondents had expressed that they wanted different classes such as dance and cooking.
Additionally, SEACA students at the time had been asking staff about cooking lessons because they wanted to learn how to prepare food on their own while their parents were at work.
The third catalyst to develop community health programming was through the SEACA youth’s participation in the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) meetings on school food as the district was undergoing major policy changes to ban soda and revamp their cafeteria menus.
After cooking classes were created, SEACA staff have worked to secure a gardening space to give the program a more holistic and environmentally-friendly approach to building healthy communities. Connecting different generations together has been a long-term goal of the community health.
Today, we welcome community members of all ages from Solano Canyon, Chinatown, and Lincoln Heights to join our project to promote better living!