February 2022 

Recent COVID-19-related federal, state and local government resources available to the nonprofit sector have required community-based organizations to carry additional levels and types of insurance coverage. For some organizations, this presents a financial challenge, as the cost of these additional coverages and policies may be prohibitive.

In response to this challenge, The Center at Sierra Health Foundation has partnered with California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits) and CalNonprofits Insurance Services to launch the COVID-19 Services Insurance Innovation Fund, a unique initiative building the capacity of the state’s nonprofit sector and supporting organizations involved in COVID-19 mitigation efforts. The fund will provide training, technical assistance and, if needed, grants of up to $10,000 to community-based partners to purchase insurance coverage.

“To help ensure inclusive community participation and leadership, we knew we had to respond creatively to this unanticipated challenge,” said Chet P. Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center. “We believe transformative change in any cause is best positioned to succeed when it invests in the ability of community-led organizations and impacted populations to be essential partners in the design, implementation and delivery of supports and services directed toward their communities.”

Access the news release for more information.

The California Department of Public Health and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, in partnership with The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, this week announced the continuation of their COVID-19 prevention and community engagement efforts by awarding more than $27 million in contracts to 153 community-based organizations throughout California.

California COVID-19 Community Health Project partner organizations conduct outreach and educate communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 on the importance of getting vaccinated and preventing COVID-19.

California COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Project partner organizations conduct outreach and educate workers and employers in higher-risk industries on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

Learn more on the California Department of Public Health website.

With grants up to $400,000 over two and a half years, Elevate Youth California’s Supporting Capacity Building for Community Organizations funding opportunity will strengthen the capacity of emerging grassroots community-based organizations and Tribal organizations throughout California to use innovative programs and practices for substance use disorder prevention among youth ages 12 to 26. Applications are due by April 4 at 1 p.m. Access the request for applications for a full funding overview and information about webinars and office hour opportunities on the Elevate Youth California website.

This funding opportunity is provided 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 Center at Sierra Health Foundation is pleased to announce Round 7 of the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund IHHEEL (Immigration, Health, Housing, Education, Environmental Justice, and Land Use and Planning) funding opportunities.

One-year IHHEEL Advocacy grants are up to $20,000 for organizations with experience in policy and systems change advocacy that are working with impacted grassroots community members on specific non-lobbying policy or systems change efforts to advance the IHHEEL Policy Platform.

One-year IHHEEL Learning grants are up to $10,000 for organizations that are committed to building their capacity for advocacy in a specified area aligned with the IHHEEL Policy Platform.

San Joaquin Valley Health Fund partners who received an IHHEEL Round 6 Advocacy/COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency Grant and/or a COVID-19 Relief Grant in 2020 or 2021 are eligible to apply.

Learn more about these funding opportunities and the IHHEEL Policy Platform on the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund webpage.

Sierra Health Foundation and The Center are accepting applications for seven positions:

• Managing Director for Health Equity and Access (Sacramento office)
• Managing Director for Regional Programs (Fresno office)
• Senior Program Officer for the Behavioral Health Recovery Services Project (Fresno office)
• Program Officer for California Funders for Boys and Men of Color (Sacramento office)
• Program Associate for the Behavioral Health Recovery Services Project (Fresno office)
• Program Assistant for the Medication Assisted Treatment Access Points Project (Sacramento office)
• Program Assistant for the Elevate Youth California program (Sacramento office)

Visit our Employment Opportunities page to learn about the positions and apply online.

Congratulations to 12 Elevate Youth California community partners that have received awards up to $750,000 to pilot and evaluate innovative practices in youth-led activism, peer support and mentoring in communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. Awarded partners will participate in an evaluation using the appreciative inquiry method to identify ways to improve the results and conditions for substance use prevention in California. Learn about the awarded organizations on the Elevate Youth California website.

In California, more than 13 million people are enrolled in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, yet there remains a percentage of Californians who are eligible but unenrolled, and a group of people who go on and off the program. Many of these individuals are from hard-to-reach populations, live in extremely rural areas and lack transportation, have unstable housing, are reluctant to enroll due to their immigration status, may have limited English proficiency, or may have physical disability or behavioral health needs. Navigators are one way to reach and enroll those individuals and populations who are eligible for Medi-Cal but have not enrolled.

To help meet the need for Medi-Cal health navigators, The Center at Sierra Health Foundation and the California Department of Health Care Services partnered on the Medi-Cal Health Navigator Project. In October 2020, The Center awarded sub-grants totaling $2.3 million to a cohort of community-based organization partners to help facilitate Medi-Cal enrollment and retention in Amador, Calaveras, Lassen and Solano counties.

The Medi-Cal Health Navigator Project revealed several lessons for those who conduct outreach and enrollment work. The project’s final paper, Medi-Cal Health Navigator Project: Lessons Learned in Medi-Cal Outreach and Enrollment in Rural Northern California, highlights the perspectives, lessons learned and recommendations from The Center and the community-based organizations participating in the project.

The Economic Policy Institute recently shared that while COVID-19 has affected populations across the entire world, in the United States the burden of the disease has not been distributed equally. Those racial and ethnic groups that have been most severely affected by the disease over the course of the pandemic are the same groups that are most economically disadvantaged based on multiple measures. Access and share an Economic Policy Institute chart showing these disparities on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.