Melissa Kelly-Ortega

Melissa Kelly-Ortega is the Program Associate for the Coalition. Melissa was recently appointed to the Merced County Association of Governments' Community Advisory Committee and serves on the SJVUAPCD's Environmental Justice Advisory Group.

"Send this plan back to be strengthened or do it yourself," said Melissa Kelly-Ortega, program coordinator for the Merced-Mariposa Asthma Coalition.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega of the Merced/Mariposa County Asthma Coalition asked the crowd.

Not surprisingly, everyone raised their hands.

This meeting was one of three led by a California Air Resources Board task force to gather the public's thoughts and concerns about air quality.

The task force was formed after a June air board meeting in which it became clear that the goal of cleaning up the Valley's air by 2024 wasn't well received by the public."We are offended being told that we can't get clean air until 2024," Kelly-Ortega said.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega, a program associate and Merced resident who has two children with asthma, said the truck rule gives "a glimmer of hope that our children will be able to breathe clean air."

"My three-year-old was just given medication for asthma last month," said Melissa Kelly-Ortega, 36, of Merced.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega, Asthma Coalition program associate, held a sign with a large picture of her 4-year-old daughter, Satya, who developed a chronic cough and must take twice-a-day medication for her breathing problems.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega, MMCAC Program Associate

Melissa Kelly-Ortega is the new Program Associate for the Merced/Mariposa County Asthma Coalition (MMCAC).Melissa received her Bachelors in Psychology and has seven years experience in education.

Since moving to Merced in 1990, she has taken a keen interest in city, county, and state policies and environmental practices.She has been involved in supporting Clean Air Initiatives, recycling issues, and other environmental issues at the grassroots level.From these experiences and her years of teaching in the classroom, she has become more concerned about our valley's air quality as it affects our children

Teaching at the elementary school level for over six years, she observed many students who experienced recurring headaches, migraines, breathing difficulty, and asthma.It seemed to her that the occurrence of these conditions worsened every year.Her oldest daughter was born with diminished lung capacity and continues to deal with breathing difficulties and occasional migraines.This has made her a strong proponent for cleaning up our Valley's air.

Her most recent activities in grassroots organizing include: MOMs CAN (Clean Air Network), Housing the Homeless at Sierra Presbyterian Church, The Earth Day Committee, and The Green Party.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega -Program Associate mortega@gvhc.org

MMCAC's Program Associate, Melissa Kelly-Ortega, was tapped to sit on the California Air Resources Board San Joaquin Valley Task Force to examine and improve the ozone plan passed by the SJVAPCD before the state passed it to the EPA. Along with learning about the technicalities of reducing ozone levels in the Valley she also learned more about the specifics of empowering the community to engage in decision making processes.

As a result, 70 participants attended the California Air Resources Board Community Meeting in Merced, where the co-founder of Moms Clean Air Network (Moms CAN) and MMCAC member, Lisa Kayser-Grant, took the stage with Kelly-Ortega to present the community's point of view regarding the 2007 Ozone Plan process.

Both Mary-Michal and the newly hired Program Associate, Melissa Kelly-Ortega, voiced their concerns regarding the development with letters to the editor, public opportunities to speak, and conversations with citizens of the county.

Rawling is also a primary member of the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD).Mary-Michal actively participates and testifies at various hearings in the district to ensure that the decisions made are made with full knowledge regarding the environmental impacts.Rawling sits on the Citizens Advisory Committee in an effort to make certain the residents of the Central Valley are informed of the air quality issues that affect them on a local level.

Melissa Kelly-Ortega was hired November 20, 2006, as the new Program Associate for the coalition.Melissa comes to the Asthma Coalition with hopes of changing the air in the Valley for the health and well-being of all who make the Valley their home.Her desire to create a better world for generations to come and her common-sense, problem-solving approach has connected her with organizations that deal with ecological politics, housing the homeless, Earth Day events, and Clean Air Initiatives.