asthma

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<strong>New America Media</strong></p>
<p>SEELEY, CA — Until his knee gave out, Ramon Villa Jr. dreamed he’d be a soccer star. Across Seeley’s pitted playing field of dirt and grass, he and his friends would chase the ball through the desert sunset every day after school. Seeley’s de facto town center is that field. With a fire station in one corner, it is as much of a downtown as Seeley’s ever likely to have.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rosa Perea’s 5-year-old son lives an asphyxiating life. If he does not take his medicine every morning or if the air is too polluted, he can end up in the emergency room with an asthma attack.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Perea, director of the Juan Diego Community Center in South Chicago, goes through this tragedy not only at home but also at work. The Center is a community clinic that last year served 19,000 people, mostly low-income Latino asthma patients, and many, many children.</p>