San Jacinto

Xzavier Avalos has the distinction of being the first recipient of the Soboba Fire Department Chief Howard Maxcy Sr. Firefighter of the Year award.

The Soboba Tribal TANF Program Prevention Resource Center (PRC) is currently running its Tribal Cháamcha Lówwivuktum (TCL) activities virtually and as take-home projects for its 12- to 19-year-old participants. February was dedicated to the topic of Online Safety Awareness. Program Specialist II Olga Gomez Munoz said the PRC staff takes many things into consideration when choosing TCL activities and topics. “We surveyed youth in the beginning of fall 2020 asking what they would be interested in participating in for our TCLs this year,” she said. “Based on their interests, we choose activities that we can adapt into either a take-home or virtual activity. We try to focus on topics that currently affect our youth demographic to promote awareness.” She said that PRC staff, which includes Regional Prevention Manager Harold Arres, actively participate in various webinars and trainings targeted at professionals working with youth and at-risk youth.

Faced with continuing limitations on community events due to COVID-19 precautions, members of the Soboba Youth Council have had to get creative. The new school year began with classes still meeting online, so the young people decided to set up an outdoor Back-to-School Scavenger Hunt on Aug. 28.

The Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians fought long and hard to open a casino on Tribal land a quarter of a century ago. Much has changed since the early days, most notably the construction and opening of the current Soboba Casino Resort last year. The month of August is filled with Silver Anniversary promotions to commemorate the celebration.

With the help of grant funds from the Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC), the Soboba Public Works Department was able to implement a program to take care of much-needed cleanup and repair from federally declared disasters at the Soboba Indian Reservation.