This article was first published in July 2016. More than a century ago Rue Clifford rode a horse through the streets of South San Francisco to gather signatures to support building a library. Her work paid off: industrialist turned philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave the young city $10,000 to build its first free public library on Grand Avenue.

The County of San Mateo has replaced a local call center number with a new service that will more than double the hours residents can get information about the coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) – 2-1-1.

Local emergencies announced to position resources for extended response

The 2020 Census gets underway soon and it’s critical that every person living in the county is counted to secure federal funding for medical services, including clinics and children’s health insurance, housing, emergency preparedness, nutrition programs, infrastructure and a host of other services.

First she lost her balance.

Whether you are an orphan, a prisoner, sick, a refugee, homeless or mentally ill, the Daughters of Charity for nearly 400 years provided charitable health care for the most vulnerable among us. They’ve been the heroes of the poor for centuries all around the world.

The teenage girl stood in her driveway in fuzzy slippers and a black coat pulled tight like a security blanket. She wiped at tears.   Her parents had called 9-1-1 because they didn't know where else to turn. They had discovered disturbing videos on social media of their daughter talking about drug use and suicide. Just four days earlier she had celebrated her 16th birthday. Now two police officers said she needed an immediate emergency mental health evaluation.

The County of San Mateo and community groups from Daly City to East Palo Alto are joining forces to provide fresh and healthy food to individuals and families in need Listen to the podcast Do you want to know where Measure K tax dollars are being invested?

Depending on which side of the aisle you sit on, the future of Medicare either looks grim or promising as its fiscal strength shows signs of improvement despite the program being constantly under siege by fraudsters. In Congress, there has been talks for years now to either phase out the medical insurance program that benefits nearly 58 million Americans, the vast majority seniors, or possibly even privatize it.

San Mateo County will be one of the first in the state to implement the exchange zone and follows Daly City, which established its zone last year at City Hall directly in front of the police station.