Celebrating 30 years of partnership
As we continue to look back on our 30 years of grant making and partnership, this month we’re reflecting on our work and the work of our partners to improve access to health care by strengthening the capacity of community health centers.
As part of our Sacramento Region Health Care Partnership, we invested $3 million for the Community Health Center Capacity Building Program to strengthen the region’s health care delivery system to improve the primary care safety net, and to promote community education and engagement. In 2013, we awarded grant funding to five community health centers in Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties: Cares Community Health, Chapa-De Indian Health Program, Elica Health Centers, WellSpace Health and Winters Healthcare Foundation.
Our program investments included technical assistance for grantees and the Safety Net Learning Institute for all community health centers in the region. We also provided networking opportunities for community health center leadership to learn about potential policy initiatives and opportunities to work together with local partners. We held the final networking event on Nov. 19 with special guest speaker Carmela Castellano-Garcia, President and CEO of the California Primary Care Association, who led a discussion on the policy landscape for community health centers.
#SHF30Years
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Funders tour San Joaquin Valley, meet with grantee partners
On Nov. 5, staff members from The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Wallace H. Coulter Foundation,
California Department of Public Health Office of Health Equity and Sierra Health Foundation toured the San Joaquin Valley.
The first stop was in South Stockton, where at the forefront were issues around community safety, opportunities for boys and men of color, sustainable communities and the history of multi-ethnic farm worker organizing. San Joaquin Valley Health Fund grantee partner Reinvent South Stockton Coalition–City of Stockton led the group on a walking tour that showed the disparities that exist, but also highlighted how working collaboratively has resulted in significant wins. Examples included residents taking back a community park, and establishing the first credit union in South Stockton, giving 100,000 residents access to a financial institution beyond payday lenders. (photo below)
Other stops on the tour included visits with grantee partners and leaders from Merced, Fresno and rural unincorporated communities. We sincerely thank all of the grantee partners for hosting and sharing the good work being done in San Joaquin Valley communities.
The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund is a program managed by the Center for Health Program Management with funding from Sierra Health Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, Rosenberg Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.
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Sierra Health Foundation partners with California Health Report to highlight work in San Joaquin Valley
The California Health Report is an independent, nonprofit journalism project with a mission to inform Californians about public health and community health issues. We were pleased to support two episodes that highlight efforts taken by people in the San Joaquin Valley who are improving their lives and the conditions of their communities.
California Health Report Episode 7 explores efforts to improve the rate of breastfeeding in San Joaquin County, highlights the struggles midwives are feeling as a result of the high demand for their services and discusses work being done for patients in acute psychiatric crisis.
California Health Report Episode 8 chronicles efforts to tackle high asthma rates, highlights advocates who are trying to make a city more bike friendly, explores the ways Cambodian elders find healing through culture and discusses the impact on caregivers who care for family members.
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Evaluation Director Leslie Cooksy presents at national conference
Sierra Health Foundation Evaluation Director Leslie Cooksy presented on Quality in Evaluation: From Theory to Practice at the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference in Chicago earlier this month. The theme of the conference was Exemplary Evaluations in a Multicultural World.
Leslie’s presentation was part of a panel that discussed what quality means in the context of evaluation. Themes of technical quality, equity and evaluation use were addressed. Leslie’s role was to help the participants think about how these ideas can be translated into practice.
The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology and other forms of evaluation.
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