Leadership Development for Racial Equity funding to support youth-focused policy and systems change

In partnership with The California Endowment and Sierra Health Foundation, The Center will award up to $100,000 to support advocacy-related capacity building and leadership development activities for youth-focused nonprofit organizations serving in Northern California and the San Joaquin Valley.

The Leadership Development for Racial Equity program strengthens the capacity of and develops leaders within organizations managed by leaders of color who work with youth in low-income communities of color to address racial inequities through policy and system change.

Proposals are due by Sept. 3 at 1 p.m.

Learn more and access application materials and the proposers’ webinar on The Center web site.

E-mail us any questions.

Photo: The 2018-19 Leadership Development for Racial Equity cohort and staff.

Back to top

Positive Youth Justice Initiative partner scores a win for youth in Riverside County

Youth justice advocates are celebrating big wins this summer, including Positive Youth Justice Initiative partner Sigma Beta Xi, Inc., which won a settlement that sets a new standard for youth justice programs in Riverside County. The county will stop referring young people to probation under the Youth Accountability Team program for common adolescent behaviors or school discipline matters, and will shift nearly $8 million over the next five years to community-based programming.

This is an important milestone for the youth justice movement in California and is one more step toward the creation of a positive youth justice system focused on the healthy development of California’s youth.

Sigma Beta Xi is working to integrate and expand youth organizing into mentoring and local youth justice policy change, and is the lead partner for the Positive Youth Justice Initiative in Riverside County.

Learn more about the Positive Youth Justice Initiative.

Photo courtesy of Sigma Beta Xi, Inc.

Back to top

Advocates call for a full and fair Census 2020 at Speaker Series event in Fresno

We all have a role to play to ensure everyone is included, supported, protected and counted in Census 2020. That was the message shared at our August 21 Speaker Series event held at Arte Americas in Fresno.

We were pleased to welcome guest speaker Manuel Pastor, distinguished professor at University of Southern California and Director of USC’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. Professor Pastor provided an overview of the economic, social and environmental influence of the census as a responsibility of and to the people — to be seen, counted and valued as individuals who make contributions to their community, to the state and to the country. He was joined by Dolores Huerta, civil rights advocate and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, for a conversation on the power of advocacy to ensure all are reached, as an undercount of anybody will impact everybody. A panel discussion followed with Pablo Rodriguez of Communities for a New California Education Fund, Deep Singh of Jakara Movement and Pastor Trena Turner of Faith in the Valley. Speakers and community members engaged in robust discussion about the courage required to be seen, heard and counted.

An event video will be posted on the Speaker Series web page.

Photo, back row, left to right: Professor Manuel Pastor, Sierra Health Foundation Board Chair Debra McKenzie, Jakara Movement Executive Director Deep Singh, Sierra Health Foundation President and CEO Chet P. Hewitt, Faith in the Valley Executive Director Pastor Trena Turner, and Communities for a New California Education Fund Executive Director Pablo Rodriguez; front: Dolores Huerta Foundation President Dolores Huerta.

Back to top

San Joaquin Valley Census Research Project publishes Census 2020: Counting the Hard to Count

The San Joaquin Valley Census Research Project recently released its fourth report – Census 2020: Counting the Hard to Count – which looks at the likely level of Census 2020 participation by San Joaquin Valley residents, and identifies where local collaboration can complement and enhance Census Bureau operations to ensure a complete count of all residents.

While the project’s first three reports focused on findings from Latino residents, this report integrates the survey results from 174 non-Latino residents who participated in the study. The immigrant communities studied in the project experience all of the aspects of census-defined hard-to-count communities: being hard to locate, interview, contact and persuade. In addition, language barriers, lack of Internet access, concerns about the proposed (now eliminated) citizenship question, and the use of census data create challenges to accomplishing a fair and accurate Census 2020 count.

The San Joaquin Valley Census Research Project reports are based on 2018 survey research and focus groups conducted by California Institute for Rural Studies and Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative for The Center at Sierra Health Foundation through a grant from the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund.

Access the reports on the San Joaquin Valley Census Research Project web page.

Back to top

Grantee Partner Spotlight: Bear Yuba Land Trust

Through its efforts to create a balance between nature and the needs of the people who make a life and a livelihood in the Sierra Nevada region, Bear Yuba Land Trust has established itself as a conservation leader, saving more than 15,000 acres of foothill forests, oak woodlands, meadows, riparian habitat, farms and ranches. Founded in 1990, the nonprofit organization promotes conservation of land in the foothills region from the Bear to the Yuba rivers and from the western crest of the Sierra peaks to the Sacramento Valley floor.

Each year, Bear Yuba Land Trust connects thousands of people with nature through outdoor education experiences and content, emphasizing the importance of healthy lands and recreation for wellness. Their professional trails team has worked with community volunteers to build and maintain more than 45 miles of local trails.

Bear Yuba Land Trust received a 2018 Responsive Grants Program $15,000 award for trail management and outdoor programming to improve the health and quality of life of individuals and families in Nevada County by maintaining and growing trail management and outdoor programming through a Trails Master Plan. The plan includes maintaining more than 45 miles of urban and rural trails that connect people to schools, churches, shopping centers and other locations of social interest, and creating opportunities for people to experience the health and social benefits of being outside.

Visit the Bear Yuba Land Trust web site to learn more or access their trails portal.

Hiking at Hirschman Pond. Photo courtesy of Bear Yuba Land Trust.

Back to top

Los Angeles County learns from Black Child Legacy Campaign efforts to reduce child deaths

A recent report by Southern California Public Radio highlighted work being done in Sacramento County through the Black Child Legacy Campaign as a model that Los Angeles County can learn from in its own efforts to reduce African American child deaths. According to the article, Sacramento’s Plan To Keep Black Children Alive Is Working — And LA Is Watching, dire racial disparities in infant mortality in Los Angeles County have persisted for decades, and local officials have said turning those statistics around is a public health priority. The report pointed to the Black Child Legacy Campaign and its goal to reduce preventable deaths of African American children because of results that have surpassed expectations.

The article offers five lessons from the Black Child Legacy Campaign that other cities could use to replicate its model. Read or listen to the report.

Back to top

Dr. Claire Pomeroy named among Crain’s Notable Women in Healthcare

We’re pleased to share that Sierra Health Foundation Board Member Dr. Claire Pomeroy was honored by Crain’s New York Business as one of the Notable Women in Healthcare. An expert in infectious diseases, Dr. Pomeroy is a longtime public health advocate, with a focus on patients with HIV/AIDS. As head of the Lasker Foundation since 2013, Dr. Pomeroy is responsible for advancing the group’s mission to improve health by accelerating support for medical research through recognition of research excellence, education and advocacy. She passionately supports ongoing investment in medical research, and has an interest in health care policy and the importance of the social determinants of health. Dr. Pomeroy serves on the board of several health care entities in addition to Sierra Health Foundation and The Center, and has written more than 100 articles and book chapters.

Back to top

Artist takes a humorous view of pop culture and ideas in exhibit at Sierra Health Foundation

Visitors to our Conference and Education Center in Sacramento have an opportunity to view an exhibit by artist Val Fernandez. Describing his approach to constructing art as an organic process, Fernandez lets the projects and material take on a life of their own and guide his process. He works in several mediums, but his primary mediums of choice are ceramics, mosaic and sgraffito. Although his work is intelligently rendered, Fernandez says he enjoys taking a sarcastic and humorous view of pop culture and ideas. He has been showing his art in galleries and other venues in the greater Sacramento area for more than 30 years.

View the exhibit at our Conference and Education Center at 1321 Garden Highway in Sacramento.

Back to top