November 2020 

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund will award funding for eligible community-based nonprofits through two separate funding opportunities: IHHEEL Advocacy grants and COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency Advocacy grants. Both types of grants are focused on identifying a specific non-lobbying policy/systems change target that would advance the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund IHHEEL (Immigration, Health, Housing, Education, Environmental Justice, and Land Use and Planning) Policy Platform over a one-year period. Applicants may request an amount up to $50,000 for IHHEEL Advocacy grants or up to $50,000 for COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency Advocacy grants.

Applications are due by Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. Learn more about the funding opportunities and get application instructions on The Center web site.

Sierra Health Foundation and The Center have openings for an evaluation officer and a grants and contracts management associate. Visit our Employment Opportunities web page to learn about the positions and apply online.

We continue to lead and partner with local, regional and statewide efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and support community members and businesses that are most impacted. We’re pleased to share an impact story and video from Cultiva La Salud, one of our San Joaquin Valley Health Fund COVID-19 Response Cluster funded partners.

“We were very fortunate to receive investment from the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund in order to provide COVID-19 relief for vulnerable elderly Latina immigrants in Fresno County through our #SaveTheSeñoras project. Our program has been serving over 100 women countywide on a monthly basis. Our supports have included groceries, personal hygiene products, household cleaning supplies and financial assistance.” -Genoveva Islas, Founder and Executive Director, Cultiva La Salud

Access the #SaveTheSeñoras project video.

Congratulations to 32 Elevate Youth California community partners that have received awards up to $1 million to develop or increase youth substance use disorder prevention, outreach and education. With nearly $29.7 million in funding and technical assistance, the community-based and Tribal organizations will increase youth understanding of substance use disorder and reduce community and individual stigma of use and treatment. Funding also focuses on youth activism, mentorship and peer-led supports that lift up youth empowerment and leadership with a focus on impacting policy, systems and environmental change. The 32 new partners join 26 organizations that received awards in the first round of funding earlier this year. Learn about the awarded organizations on the Elevate Youth California web site.

Elevate Youth California is managed by The Center at Sierra Health Foundation under contract with the State of California’s Department of Health Care Services through Proposition 64, California Cannabis Tax Fund, Allocation 3, Youth Education Prevention Early Intervention and Treatment Account.

The Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Access Points Project is supporting organizations throughout California to address the opioid and substance use epidemic. The project creates a community of practice that lifts up and makes available racially and culturally responsive population-based and place-based approaches for California’s most underserved communities.

The Center recently launched a redesigned web site for MAT Access Points partners and the public. This site is a go-to resource for program and funded project information, materials, toolkits and technical assistance, as well as funding opportunities related to the program. We invite you to visit the new MAT Access Points Project web site and share it with your networks.

The MAT Access Points Project is funded through the Department of Health Care Services California MAT Expansion Project and is administered by The Center at Sierra Health Foundation.

My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento has partnered with Sacramento County Office of Education to create the Sacramento Healthy HeART and Mind Collaboration. The collaboration’s goal is to create a support system that addresses the social-emotional and mental health needs of Sacramento-area students. It integrates mentoring, arts and mental health supports in neighborhoods most at risk for COVID-19-related impacts, such as physical school closures and isolation.

Students receiving support include those who are in high-risk categories, such as being in foster care or experiencing homelessness, as well as those who have recently experienced trauma, have a history of chronic absenteeism or high rates of discipline interactions in previous school years. My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento has made 10 sub-grants to community-based mentoring organizations to serve 22 priority schools for this pilot phase. Learn more in the Sacramento Healthy HeART and Mind Collaboration fact sheet (.pdf).

The Build.Black. Coalition, in collaboration with the Be Heard podcast network and Entercom, last month launched the Build.Black. Podcast to serve as a platform for Black healing, organizing and power, uplifting Black entrepreneurs, artists, families, and cultural and community leaders. Issue areas addressed reinforce the four pillars of the Build.Black. Coalition: uplifting Black youth voices, health equity and access, justice and policing in Black communities, and investment in Black neighborhoods and businesses. Access the Build.Black. Podcast.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced it needs additional time to fix data processing anomalies. As a result, the release of the state population counts used for congressional apportionment and electoral votes for the next decade will be delayed until after President Trump’s term ends. Read this New York Times article for more information.

It is unknown if this delay affects the Census Bureau’s efforts to produce state-level population estimates of undocumented immigrants, in accordance with the July 21 presidential memorandum, which will be the subject of a Supreme Court hearing on Nov. 30. The U.S. House of Representatives filed an amicus brief in that Supreme Court census case. Read Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s press release and access the brief on the Supreme Court web site.

With the holiday season here, COVID-19 guidelines from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) provide recommendations and mandatory requirements for all gatherings in the state. CDPH defines gatherings as social situations that bring together people from different households at the same time in a single space or place. When people from different households mix, this increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19. Access CDPH Guidance for the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission for Gatherings on the CDPH web site.