hello and welcome to "comunidad del valle" on this easter sunday. i'm damian trujillo. i promise we won't keep you long on your easter sunday. we have workers' rights and victims' rights today on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪ we begin today with the monthly visit of the consulate of mexico. with me in the consul general. welcome back to the show. >> hello. good morning. thank you so much for your

invitation. i'm pleased to be with you. >> thank you. you know what really enlightened me, helped me feel really special was the pictures that you posted on twitter last week. we have some video to show you. these are the pictures of folks at the consulate getting the covid-19 vaccine. talk about that effort. and that's not the end of it either. >> yes. i'm really glad, and we worked together with the santa clara county, and we had last week a mobile unit for vaccines. and we will repeat these, and on april 8, we will have from 10:00 to 3:00, we will have vaccines, not appointments. people can come to the consulate. it doesn't matter the citizenship. it doesn't matter what is their situation. the important thing is to be in the categories that the santa clara county has announced or

will announce for that day. that will be peopl f 50 years and older, from agricultu from foods, also emergency and education areas. so we are glad to announce that, and we are happy because we know that our latino community, our mexican community has been affected very hard with the virus. so it's an opportunity to help them to get their vaccines. >> why is it important for the consulate of mexico to do something like this? >> you know, our people has confidence in the consulate. we know that some of our constituencies, facilities to access to internet

or have their own email. so it's hard then to make the appointments by mail. another question is that sometimes they are not confident because they don't know if they are -- there are going to somebody requisites that they are not compiling. for example, insurance they don't have sometimes or some immigration status. so that's why it's important to the consulate. part of the duties that we have is to serve our community, not just using documents. so for us and in my personal opinion, it's really, really very glad to see how we can help our people not using the documents. >> that's really great to see. it's an effort that is still undertaken there at the consulate of mexico in san jose.

another topic that we want to talk about here is spring break. we're right in the middle of it. it's easter sunday today. talk about those who might be thinking of tonight or tomorrow headed over to cabo san lucas, mazatlan, acapulco to enjoy spring break. what are your recommendations for those who are thinking that? >> well, we always have the recommendation -- still the recommendation is try to be safe and just limit for essential trips your travels. but we know that in these days there is a lot of interest to going have some rest because more or less have already vaccine. others think that already they had the virus or the covid, so they can already travel because they feel that they are not going to get anymore the

infection. so what is the recommendation is always read what are the different considerations from the different local authorities for safety measures. one is using the mask. we always have it also at the office. it's wash your hands frequently. and also you can look at the different airlines. what are the different measures and dispositions they have considering also coming back to the united states because as you disposition that they need to have negative covid test before flying into the united states. so that's our recommendations to all the people that we have the fortune to have extraordinary resort places with sunshine already. so if they want to go and visit

our country, what is important is to read the different recommendations that are in the local cities for following all the dispositions and being safe. >> that's the important thing is being safe. thank you so much for this wonderful information. and, again, the vaccinations are on thursday, april 8th, at the consulate of mexico in san jose. for more information, the consulate is at 302 enzo drive. up next on "comunidad del valle," workers' rights. stay with us.

we're talking about the safety and the rights of workers here on "comunidad del valle." with me now is ruth silver tobe. she is with the step forward foundation. she's an attorney there to talk about some important new developments that just occurred this past week. ruth, welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> yeah, us about the supplemental sick leave that just went into effect if you will. >> yes.

as of march 29th -- so that's two days ago -- the state enacted a supplemental paid sick leave law, and that law provides for 80 hours of paid sick leave. and that applies to businesses that have more than 25 employees, and that is if you need to quarantine or if you have covid, if you need to take care of a family member, if you need to get a vaccine or you have side effects for the vaccine. and then if your child is in school or day care and the day care or school have to close because of covid, you can also get that sick leave. now, what's important to

retroactive to january 2021. so that if you weren't able to get that sick leave, you could get it now. also in that sick leave, the employer cannot require you to take your vacation or any sick leave that you've accrued. so that's very important. there's also an osha emergency temporary standard for aerosol infections like covid. and if you are required have symptoms and you caught covid at work, the employer has to pay you for the entire time that you are out. if you do have symptoms, then you can get workers comp.

now, with this emergency temporary standard, the employer can require you to use that supplemental sick pay. so what do you do if there's 25 or fewer employees? well, there's nothing unless you work in the city of san jose. if you work in the city of san jose, then it doesn't matter how large you are. there's no exemptions, and you can get 80 hours of sick pay. i did want to mention that i also supervise the office of labor standards enforcement, and it's a legal advice line. and we have a spanish -- two spanish-speaking attorneys. we also have english, vietnamese, tagalog, va scion, punjabi and hindi. i also supervise a rights clinic

at community law center at santa clara university school of law. so you can either call the advice line at 866- -- or the law center at 408-288-7030. also as part of a program that step forward is part of, if you need anybody to help you make a vaccine appointment in spanish, you can call the day workers center of mountain view at 650-903-4102 and ask for carlos. >> and, ruth, what's the standard? you said supplemental sick leave. is the standard 40 hours, or what is the standard that -- >> right now in california, that's an excellent question. there is three days of paid sick

leave that everybody gets. the employer can't require you to use that if there's this -- if you're eligible for this covid supplemental, but people with 25 or under can definitely use those three days if they're not in the city of san jose and they need it. but normally, yes, you get three days, and that's accrued at one hour for every 30 hours you work or the employer can give it to you right at the beginning. and what's important is that for employers out there, you must reflect those three days on the pay stub, and you must also have a separate entry for the supplemental paid sick leave as well on the paycheck. >> boy, and i can see why we -- >> pay stub. >> on the pay stub, yes. i can see why we need that. folks might be afraid to call in sick if they have covid symptoms or whatnot because they're not

going to get paid. this will remedy that. this is the step forward foundation. they have tons of information and referrals for you. you're going to see the website and the telephone number on the screen. they're right here in san jose. the advice line is 866-870-7725 for more information. thank you so much for that valuable information. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. up next, we're going to talk about victim protection. stay with us.

covid has made clear that having is more important than ever.

covering everything covid has made clear thatfrom preventive care to mental health. and it's the only place that offers financial help for health insurance. enrollment is open due to covid-19. if you or someone you know isn't covered, now is the time to sign up. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll now at coveredca.com. it's called the pro bono project and we have the executive director of the project. she's with us here on "comunidad del valle." sandra, welcome to the show. >> thank you. i'm happy to be here. >> you're talking about -- we keep talking about covid and the consequences, and there are some other consequences when it comes tohe victims and maybe the accused. talk about what we should know at this point.

>> yeah. so i represent the pro bono project, and the pro bono project has since 1986 been focused on providing legal services to individuals who normally could never afford it. and so we know that during covid, it's been very difficult for people to get the referrals that they normally would come to us with. and so because of closures of programs, because of the shelter-in-place, we have had a tremendous impact on people coming to our office or not knowing how to get a hold of us. so it's been very difficult. and so just to kind of give you an overall view, since march of last year when, you know, covid got kicked into place and the shelter-in-place order came in, the sheriff's department reported that there was an increase of 40% in domestic violence cases, which is, you know, unheard of and terrible for the people that are going through it. at the same time, itakes sense. it makes sense in that, you

vulnerable, abusive relationship, now you add job loss t in the house with those feelings that everybody's getting, you know, the feelings and anxiety percolate in that situation. then obviously they're already in a vulnerable situation. sometimes what would happen in relationships is that an individual will leave to work while the other person maybe goes out and finds the resources that they need. well, if they're kind of stuck at home with their abuser, they're not really finding enough of an opportunity to go out and find that resource, or the previous resources that used to be out there are just not available. so people don't know where to go. so i appreciate the fact that we get this opportunity to talk to you about that. in addition to that, we also help to serve individuals who have been incarcerated who may need help with legal issues, not criminal. we don't take on criminal cases, but maybe other legal issues

such as family law. you know, they had a custody order or they had a visitation order, and because they were incarcerated, they don't know what to do, or maybe they just want to be able to clean up their rap sheet, be able to get expungement services. so because we also had back then access to going and doing presentations at san jose main jail or to elmwood and we no longer have access to that, people aren't coming to us. and so we really need this opportunity to let people know what's out there for them. >> we're looking at some just promotional video and some real video now of some domestic violence cases. and is it true that, sandra, the worst thing you can dof you're a victim of domestic violence is say nothing because that only allows this process to continue? >> yeah. you know, it's -- that is true, and we know that it's very

complicated. you know, people go through a variety of different feelings, situations. they may be at risk. they may be extremely afraid of leaving this other person, so feeling that they do say something, you know, they think about what could happen to them in retaliation of that. and so, you know, we've been working very closely with the court system. we've also worked very closely with solutions to domestic violence, the dvic also, the domestic violence intervention collaborative. we try to create as much of a resource available process and develop programs and partnerships with the right individuals and right organizations so that we know exactly what to do when a victim comes to us. many times when they come to us, they're ready to move on. they're ready to, you know, get

the restraining order. they're ready to, you know, deal with the custody and visitation of the children. they're ready at that point. but the cycles of violou know, can have alevels, and so n actually identify where they're at in their process, the better. we always refer to those agencies because it's critical for them to also get the shelter support, get the emotional support, get the counseling, know what to do when they have to still drop off the kids. you know, domestic violence is just so complicated, we just need to make sure that they come to us at the right time and that we're able to help them. anytime is the right time, i should say. but we want to make sure that we're helping them along the way with all of those differe services. >> that's wonderful to hear that you all are doing it. i would imagine once things normalize, if you will, that a lot of these places might get flooded with some of these victims that have been holding

back. >> yeah, we definitely know the numbers are rising, and we want to make sure that we get the word out that we are open. our doors are open. our virtual doors are open. our phones are open and that they will be served, you know, if we get the opportunity just to hear from them. so hopefully we get a chance to share our information as well. then for those individuals who have been recently released from elmwood or san jose main jail, we also have services for them. >> i want to talk about it in our next segment because that's pretty important. if you want to get a hold of the pro bono project, they are here in the south bay. they can help out with any of these issues that you might have, and it is pro bono. that is the name of their project. they're on 14th street, and there's the number for more information. we'll be back to wrap it up when we continue. stay with us.

we're back here on "comunidad del valle" with the pro bono project. sandra, one issue. i mean the county established

this program called a re-entry program so that once folks exit the incarceration system, they have this center to go to, to get the resources they need so they don't have to return to incarceration at some point because they just didn't have anything to fall back on. >> right. >> it's kind of difficult during covid because the center itself is not open. >> yeah. well, you know, they do -- the center, as you get there, they're not open on the inside, but there's people on the outside being able to help. so i think that's important for people to know, that if they still need to get services -- >> you can still go there and get the -- okay. >> yeah, you can go to the main office. they just have outside kind of like little, you know, cubes where you're going to talk to people through a glass door, and they'll be able to then refer them. but all of those same partners that existed prior to covid are there. and so it's important to know

that we, pro bono project, is actually partially funded by the re-e and they've had a very difficult life and now they're not being able to, you know, connect with their children, for example, because of their past history and feeling the guilt of knowing whether or not they can still visit the kids or see the kids. so now you take away their children as, you know, psychologically for them, they may think, you know, what else is there? so the re-entry program really helps in being able to help individuals, you know, find jobs, find temporary shelter, get, you know, mental health needs if they have it, get drug and alcohol assistance if they have it. we get to help on the family law side or any other legal issue, again outside of criminal, to be able to help them understand what their rights are, what's

available to them. if we're able to then take away all of these, you know, problems that they feel, you know, led them to a checkered life in the past, well, here's an opportunity for us to say, look, the re-entry program is able to help with all of this, and pro bono project is a part of that. so, again, another reason to be grateful to be on "comunidad del valle" is that we get a chance to do that and get a chance to say, look, we're here. we're available. if you need any assistance, just give us a call. let us know that you're a part of re-entry. and when i mean re-entry is that you were recently released from either elmwood or san jose main. and you live in santa clara county or what have you. but if you can let us know that, then we can go ahead and assist you with what it is you need help with. >> and lastly, on the domestic violence side, how much of a role do neighbors play because i

know that maybe the neighbors hear something, and the wife or the husband will say that's their business. but when they're yelling and screaming and pounding, how big of a role do neighbors play? you know, see something, say something. hear something, say something. >> yeah, you know, i think that's really important that you say that because, you know, you're right. people sometimes are afraid to be involved because they don't know what it would mean for them and for their own safety. but we also need to recognize that domestic violence can lead to death, the death of someone. and so if they're witnessing or hearing this, to report it because i'm sure it's know, the guilt and all of everything that gets accompanied with that if it leads to someone's death. then obviously it's a little too late. so it's critically important to be able to say something and, you know, as a community to come together to protect each other,

especially our most vulnerable. >> well, it's important, again, for the victims of domestic violence or any other crime like that to report it, even during covid. there are agencies like the pro bono project that are there to help, and again, for those inmate who's are just recently released, the last thing we want is for them to have to return to the jail system because there were no services there or that person did not know how to obtain some of those services. the pro bono project is there to help along with some other agencies. any final thoughts, sandra, before we let you go here? >> again, if you're watching this and you feel that any of these programs for pro bono project in particular, you just want to give us a call and find out whether or not you qualify, whether or not we can answer a question for you, if we can't answer it, we'll get a resource, a referral to make sure that you get your questions answered. i think it's important to, just

even if it's tugging at you a little bit, if you haven't seen your kids in years and you don't think anything is possible, you never know unless you try. so give yourself and give us a shot at helping you. >> sandra, thank you so much for your help and thank you for helping our community. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. again, the pro bono project is on north 14th street in san jose. the number for more information is on your screen for referrals or whatnot. thank you so much for that. if you'd like to get a hold of us on "comunidad del valle," my twitter handle is @newsdamian, and my instagram handle is @newsdamian trujillo. you can support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. next week, latinx, what does it mean? why do we use it? we're going to go latinx against chicano or chicana. thank you for joining us. we'll see you here next week.

i'm not sure if there's anything i can say to my family members to convince them to take the covid-19 vaccine. i'm not even sure if i'm convinced. hi darius, i think that people respond more to what we do than what we say. so after looking at all the data

and the science about these vaccines, i got the vaccine. and i made sure my mom and dad got the vaccine. because these vaccines are safe. ♪ ♪ i'm sara gore, and this is "open house." this week, we are all about south florida living, architecture, and design. we are in miami at a loving homage to tropical architecture. and we're checking out this stylish riverfront gem in fort lauderdale. art deco details set the stage for a curator's vast collections. plus, this staircase is just the beginning of the surprises in this miami beach stunner. but first, what would you give for these sublime views every day from this triplex penthouses overlooking south beach and beyond? cheryl eisen: this is the epitome of modern miami luxury. let me show you what we did. come on. [theme music]