On March 26, 2021, Concord police officer Aaron Khamosh responded when a driver told him a child was not breathing. According to the American Red Cross, the child recovered after his emergency response. The Red Cross, which identifies Khamosh as Muslim in its account, honored him that August with its Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action.
Concord: the award and the event are separate records
The Red Cross account dates the intervention to March 26 and the award ceremony to August 26, 2021. Its photograph shows Khamosh with his family after the ceremony. It is a record of recognition, not an image of the emergency. The account explicitly identifies him as Muslim; his inclusion here does not depend on assumptions about his name.
South Los Angeles: four years from an idea to a patient
UMMA Health’s institutional timeline begins in 1992, when students at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University formed the University Muslim Medical Association after Los Angeles’s civil unrest. They set out to open a clinic with university support. The organization records its first patient on September 24, 1996.
The intervening work included construction, equipment donations and fundraising. That four-year interval matters: founding an organization and opening a place where care can be delivered are different milestones. UMMA’s account describes volunteers from different faiths participating in the clinic.
Keeping an institution open
UMMA’s history records a financial crisis in 2000 and donations that kept it operating. It later records federally qualified health center status in 2008 and funding to expand behavioral health services in 2015. These developments show the continuing work behind the founding story.
The two California accounts concern different forms of public service: a response to one emergency and the sustained development of a health institution. Neither should be used as a measure of all Muslim contributions in the state. The longer UMMA article adds partner and independent reporting to the institution’s own timeline.
Choose the next part of the state to explore
Concord belongs to the Bay Area story, while UMMA’s origins are in South Los Angeles. Use the Bay Area guide for regional institutions and cultural connections. For another Southern California subject, the Ahmed Zewail profile explores scientific research rather than community health services.
Follow the story
Explore the original reporting and organizational records:
Selected local stories, not a complete account of the state. Events and figures refer to the periods stated above. Check directly with organizations for current services.
