NEW Board Member Highlight: Meet Khalisa

Friends, meet Khalisa, a great community member and new addition to our board! 

Khalisa has a background in public health and is passionate about more holistic, nuanced approaches to making communities more healthy. As she put it, “health is a big part of quality of life. When people are healthy, their quality of life is often higher.” 

Considering our mission statement is ‘improving the quality of life in City Heights’, it’s no surprise we’re so excited to have Khalisa onboard. 

“A lot of people think health is really just about going to the doctor when you’re sick, but we lose sight of the preventative side to healthcare. There are ways we can plan our communities so people will be more healthy. There are things that actively encourage and enable better health.”  —Khalisa Bolling

Every aspect of this work the Community makes possible relates to health. Keeping renters safely in their homes and off the streets is about health. Homelessness is a health issue. A lack of sidewalks and street signage is a health issue. The 15 freeway slicing through our community is a health issue (and how we as an organization got out start!). 

“It’s all so interconnected and related,” Khalisa explained. “And in City Heights there’s a lot of need around designing the community to better promote health. One thing I appreciated in my board interview and about this work in general is just how dynamic a lot of the work is. That’s what it takes to make a community more healthy: dynamic responses to the need. The needs change month to month, year to year, and so our responses will need to change as well. I love that.” 

Wholeheartedly agreed, and thanks to Khalisa for joining our Board of Directors and to all of you for making these ‘dynamic responses’ possible—we’re grateful!