Reporting

<p>A Dorchester shelter works to transition women and their families to permanent housing through job training and education assistance, and also works to develop other skills like parenting and nutrition. In addition, these women have the opportunity to work on an urban farm.</p>

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Hartmann Road – an entry point into the Hidden Valley Lake gated community – intersects with a wide, sweeping curve of Highway 29. In appearance, it's an unremarkable stretch of roadway. But the statistics showed that something had to be done.</p>

<p>Despite those unhealthy calories, some fast food restaurants offer something rare in urban communities -- a clean and convenient place to hang out.</p>

<p><span><span>Some non-profit hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area receive millions of dollars in tax breaks each year to care for the poor and uninsured, yet they provide only a fraction of local charity care. Sandy Kleffman reports. <br /></span></span></p>

<p>Healthy food is in short supply in communities of color</p>

<p>A San Francisco requirement that businesses pay for their employees’ health needs has led to more workers having some form of health care. But after businesses initially stepped up to buy private health insurance for more of their workers, there has been a steady retreat.</p>

<p>Most participants in Healthy San Francisco, the city’s 2007 initiative to expand care to more than 50,000 uninsured patients, appreciate the overall access to preventative care and treatment for chronic health conditions.</p>

<p>The San Francisco Department of Public Health says it is ahead of the curve in rolling out databases that keep tabs on tens of thousands of patients across a citywide network of clinics and hospitals.</p>

<p>Four years ago, San Francisco launched a grand experiment, becoming the first city in the nation to offer comprehensive health care to its growing ranks of uninsured.</p>