Hispanic Heritage Month: Meet Conchita Pozar, the voice fighting for improvements in the North Shore area
In honor of Hispanic Heritage, we'll highlight the contributions of community members making a difference in the Coachella Valley for the next four weeks.
Ask anyone in North Shore near the Salton Sea; they'll probably have heard the name Conchita Pozar.
“If political leaders do not start doing something in our community, the solution will never come,” Pozar said.
News Channel 3/Telemundo 15's Marco Revuelta sat with Pozar outside her home. She says changes will never arrive if leaders don't realize the community's issues.
Pozar immigrated from Michoacan and belongs to the indigenous community known as Purepechas.
She only speaks Spanish and her ancestral dialect but is fearless in speaking truth to power.
“The intuition that I have is the courage to be able to go in front of them, this is what is happening, do something,” Pozar said.
She tells me her frustration and her community's challenges give her strength to speak up.
Last year, she was crucial in pushing for more school buses with A/C during school board meetings. When her community was left without power for several days due to a storm, she questioned why resources such as ice took so long to arrive.
She's also fiercely advocated for better infrastructure in communities near the Salton Sea and the need for a new elementary school.
“Ten years from now I would like to see better streets, better buses, better schools,” Pozar said.
But Pozar shares that her biggest concern is the shrinking Salton Sea and the health of all her neighbors.
She's helped lead community studies with the help of UCR, hoping it will lead to speedier efforts to mitigate the dust and its impacts.
“Well, you are helping the future of the children who live in your region,” Pozar said.
It's all about helping the children of my area have a better future. She says she has no plans on stopping anytime soon and will continue to stand up for her vulnerable community.
“I didn't realize everything I've done,” Pozar said.
She humbly tells us she doesn't realize how much she's accomplished.
