February 2020 

The California Department of Health Care Services awarded the Asthma Mitigation Program contract to The Center at Sierra Health Foundation. This statewide program will provide $12 million in funding and technical assistance for organizations that are providing asthma home visiting programs in California. Grants up to $500,000 are available for community-based organizations, local health departments, community-based health care providers or Medi-Cal managed care organizations that will work on specific culturally and linguistically appropriate asthma home visiting services, education and environmental mitigation.

Applications are due by April 28 at 1 p.m. We will hold a proposers’ webinar on March 4 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Learn more, access the request for proposals and sign up for the webinar on the Asthma Preventive Services Project web page.

Kindra Montgomery-Block now serves as Associate Director, Community and Economic Development. Since joining Sierra Health Foundation and The Center in 2015, Kindra has led our Black Child Legacy Campaign and the Build.Black. Coalition. She has leveraged her extensive community connections to expand our work for children and families experiencing some of the worst health, social and economic outcomes in the city and county of Sacramento. She will continue this work and help other counties in the state that are experiencing similar challenges associated with disproportionate child deaths in the African American community and other communities of color. The goal is to develop initiatives like the Black Child Legacy Campaign to tackle these disturbing trends with the recognition that community health and economic development are intrinsically linked. Kindra will work closely with Director of Economic Development Richard Dana to integrate the Black Child Legacy Campaign and Build.Black. portfolios with The Center’s Community Economic Development portfolio.

Madeline Sabatoni now serves as Program Officer for the Asthma Preventive Services Project. Madeline joined Sierra Health Foundation in August 2012 as a Program Assistant for the Positive Youth Justice Initiative and Minority-Led Organization Capacity Building and Leadership Development Program. She was promoted to Program Associate in 2013, and in 2016 she became the Program Associate for the Black Child Legacy Campaign. In 2017, she was promoted to Senior Program Associate. In her new role, Madeline will manage our new Asthma Preventive Services Project, which aims to support asthma prevention and environmental remediation services statewide. Her experience with the Black Child Legacy Campaign’s Cultural Brokers and Community Intervention Workers positions her well to support local health departments, medical providers and community-based organizations to offer asthma home visiting services, including education and environmental trigger mitigation.

An exhibit currently displayed at our Conference and Education Center features works by Sacramento artist Ray Franklin from the Short Center, an art center for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Mr. Franklin’s paintings and ceramic masks reference places, people and things that are familiar to him, including many iconic images of Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco. Most of the people represented in his work are African American. Mr. Franklin’s art has been exhibited at the Crocker Art Museum and other galleries in Sacramento, as well as at art shows in New York and New Mexico. The art currently exhibited is available for purchase. View the exhibit Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1321 Garden Highway in Sacramento.

The California Funders for Boys and Men of Color last week launched #HeretoLeadCA, the first storytelling initiative of its kind to celebrate the leadership, power and voice of multigenerational, Asian American and Pacific Islander, African American, Latinx and Native American boys and men of color. Inclusive of transgender, gender nonconforming and LGTQIA+ stories, this effort aims to showcase how those closest to the challenges are best equipped to create real and lasting change. Visit Heretoleadca.org to learn about these leaders and check for new stories to be rolled out every month.

The California Funders for Boys and Men of Color Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Regional Action Committee, in partnership with Sierra Health Foundation and the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, last week announced a request for proposals for a total of $250,000 in grant funding in support of Sacramento County and San Joaquin County organizations focused on educational equity for boys and men of color.

As many as 10 one-year grants of up to $25,000 will be awarded to community-based organizations working to develop a local and regional education blueprint for both Sacramento and San Joaquin counties to increase the number of boys and men of color accessing and completing an associates-to-transfer degree program, high-value career-technical certificate programs or bachelor’s degree programs. Access the request for proposals.

During the Sacramento Kings’ 20th annual month-long Black History Celebration, the team honored our colleague Ray Green, My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento Coordinator, with the DREAM All Star Award for his commitment to the local community. The award is presented to community leaders furthering conversations of equality and social justice and positively impacting the region through their work. Congratulations, Ray, and thank you for your dedication to Sacramento’s youth!

As California prepares its residents for Census 2020, everyone can play a part. Join the State of California in using social media to raise awareness about the census and to ensure that your constituents, clients and stakeholders are represented in the 2020 Census. Access the social media toolkit, which includes a timeline and milestones.

This Department of Health Care Services multi-year initiative is working to improve quality of life and health outcomes by implementing broad delivery system, program and payment reform across the Medi-Cal program. The initiative’s major components build upon the successful outcomes of various pilots – such as Whole Person Care, Health Homes and the Coordinated Care Initiative – from the previous federal waivers and will result in better quality of life for Medi-Cal members as well as long-term cost savings. Learn more.