November 2021 

It is with mixed emotions that we share the news that Leslie Cooksy, our evaluation director for almost 10 years, is leaving Sierra Health Foundation and The Center. Leslie joined the foundation in 2012 as our first evaluation director. In that time, she created a robust evaluation program and developed the department to a current team of five highly skilled evaluators.

Leslie has worked closely with partners in the Black Child Legacy Campaign, Positive Youth Justice Initiative and San Joaquin Valley Health Fund, among other programs, and has described this work as the “pinnacle of her career.” Our board and staff will deeply miss Leslie’s thoughtful presence, expertise and commitment. We wish her well in her next chapter.

We’re pleased to introduce Shelley Dyer, who recently joined our Community Economic Development team as a Senior Program Officer to manage the Steering Committee on Reduction of African American Child Deaths and its Black Child Legacy Campaign. This work began in 2015 and continues in partnership with the County of Sacramento and community-based organizations in seven neighborhoods that have the highest rates of African American child deaths in the county.

Before coming to Sierra Health Foundation and The Center, Shelley served at the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation in San Francisco, where she was the Program Manager for the Healthy Corner Store Coalition and later the Quality Assurance Manager for the Tenant and Community Services Department. Previously, she taught elementary school in Atlanta Public Schools and in the United Arab Emirates. Shelley has a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology from Spelman College and an M.A. in Early Childhood Education from Georgia State University. She is excited to bring her passion for youth development and health equity to Sierra Health Foundation and The Center.

This month we welcomed back our colleague Myel Jenkins, who rejoins our team as Senior Program Officer to manage the statewide Vaccine Equity Campaign. Organizations funded through the campaign use a diverse range of outreach methods to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines for Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and partner with community organizers, community health workers, promotoras and clinicians.

Myel served at Sierra Health Foundation and The Center from 2012 to 2016 as Program Officer of the Respite Partnership Collaborative, a successful public-private partnership that increased local mental health respite service options and alternatives to hospitalization. In the past five years, she served at California School Boards Association, most recently as the Director of Conferences, overseeing the Annual Education Conference that serves more than 3,000 California school board members each year.

Each month we share media highlights about our work and our dedicated community partners.

California Launches Robust Vaccination Program for Kids
Atascadero News published this article about California allocating more than 1.2 million vaccines for the 5-11 age group, with 4,000 vaccine sites throughout the state. Those sites include 84 pop-up clinics statewide, supported by The Center at Sierra Health Foundation through the Vaccine Equity Campaign and the Alliance for Boys & Girls.

Call for safety upgrades, community funding in wake of Sacramento double shooting
The Sacramento Bee reported on Sacramento City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela’s call for the city to invest millions of dollars on safety upgrades for the aging public housing complex where a 7-year-old girl and a 42-year-old man were killed. Councilmember Valenzuela and Black community leaders also urged the city and county to allocate more funding for community groups that work to prevent gun violence. “No city is a great city if it doesn’t take care of its children,” said Chet P. Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center.

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

• Program Officer for California Funders for Boys and Men of Color (Sacramento)
• Senior Program Associate for Elevate Youth California (Sacramento)

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

Grounded in social justice youth development, Elevate Youth California supports a statewide network of organizations working on youth substance use prevention, education and early intervention in low-income urban and rural areas throughout California, with a focus on impacting policy, systems and environmental change.

With grants up to $750,000, the new Elevate Youth California Innovation Track funding opportunity will support community-based organizations, Tribal organizations and county behavioral health agencies to pilot and evaluate innovative practices in youth-led activism, peer support and mentoring. Awarded partners will participate in an evaluation using appreciative inquiry. Applications are due by Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. Access the request for applications on the Elevate Youth California website.

Elevate Youth California network expands across the state
Congratulations to 61 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 more than $52.7 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. The new partners join 75 organizations that currently are funded through Elevate Youth California. Learn about the awarded organizations on the Elevate Youth California website.

Sacramento community and city partners this week opened the Del Paso Heights Sports Complex, a project that is transforming an aging park and vacant lot near the Robertson Community Center into four futsal courts and a softball field. As part of the City of Sacramento’s increased focus on community investments, the new facility provides local families with access to sports fields and is expected to spur economic growth and youth employment opportunities in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood.

The Sacramento Republic FC professional soccer team joined the project to provide programming and resources to activate the futsal courts. The club is working with the U.S. Soccer Foundation and Black Players for Change to help fund the project. Kaiser Permanente, SMUD, Pacific Housing, Sierra Health Foundation and Citibank are long-standing project supporters.

“The Del Paso Heights Sports Complex is a powerful example of how we both serve and empower communities,” said Chet P. Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center.

Learn more and find out how to pledge support on the Mutual Assistance Network website.

Photo: Mutual Assistance Network Executive Director Danielle Lawrence cuts the ribbon to officially open the Del Paso Heights Sports Complex at a ceremony on Nov. 29. With her, from left to right, are Sacramento Republic FC President and General Manager Todd Dunivant, Sierra Health Foundation President and CEO Chet P. Hewitt, Sacramento City Councilmember Sean Loloee, Brother 2 Brother Mentoring CEO Mervin Brookins Sr., Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Sierra Health Foundation Director of Economic Development Richard Dana and SMUD Director Rob Kerth.

A land acknowledgment is a formal statement and public recognition of the Indigenous Peoples who have been dispossessed and displaced from their ancestral homelands and territories due to a variety of historical reasons. Learn more and read the Sacramento Native American Health Center’s land acknowledgement.

Sierra Club Director of Organizational Transformation Hop Hopkins talked with Angela Mooney D’Arcy (Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation) to discuss land acknowledgments and how we can go beyond acknowledgment to truly honor Indigenous environmental leadership. D’Arcy — who is a close partner of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center — is the founder and Executive Director of the Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, a Los Angeles-based, Indigenous-led organization that works to build the capacity of Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples to protect sacred lands, waters and cultures. Learn more on the Sierra Club website.

Many children and youth in foster care experience maltreatment, loss and disrupted relationships. Without immediate supports and services, even minor miscommunications and frustrations can intensify and have detrimental results. The Family Urgent Response System (FURS) provides children and youth currently or formerly in foster care and their caregivers with the immediate trauma-informed support they need when issues big and small arise. The 24/7 statewide hotline and county mobile response systems can be reached at (833) 939-3877 (phone or text) or Cal-FURS.org (chat).