At The California Wellness Foundation, we’re continuing our commitment to health and racial equity through supporting grantee partners working to improve neighborhood environments, expand health care access, grow economic opportunity and build community power.
“We’re proud to provide resources to our partners and to spotlight their work advancing wellness across California,” said Richard Tate, Cal Wellness president and CEO. “Our grantmaking and our investments aim to meet immediate community needs and to address the structural barriers that prevent people from living healthy and well.”
Added Lori Cox, Cal Wellness vice president of programs: “The slate of grants recently awarded by the foundation will reach deep into communities across the state. The focus on multi-year funding will foster organizational stability and reflects our understanding that advancing change can require work over the long term.”
Here are some highlights from the foundation’s 2024 grantmaking and investments:
Healthier Neighborhood Surroundings
Though California law says every person has the right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible water, more than 1 million Californians still lack access to safe tap water. Based in the Central Valley, the Community Water Center (CWC) advocates for bringing safe water to underserved neighborhoods. Our $500,000 grant of core operating support will help CWC leverage the relationships it has nurtured over the past two decades and train a growing corps of community partners to advocate and organize for better access to water.
Additional grants supporting healthier neighborhood environments were awarded to Oakland-based California Environmental Justice Alliance, Alianza Coachella Valley, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust and Communities for a Better Environment in Huntington Park.
Safe and Resilient Communities
When any part of our community experiences violence, it diminishes safety and wellness for all. We awarded grants to organizations working to reduce gun violence, decrease community trauma, and expand safety, healing and resilience. Organizations receiving funding included Vera Institute of Justice to advance implementation of its model for ending incarceration for girls in California, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice to advance policing reform and transforming the youth justice system in Alameda County, and San Francisco-based Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence for policy advocacy and organizing to advance gun violence prevention.
Economic Opportunity
Wellness improves with economic stability that comes from having a reliable income, saving money, and owning assets. Despite anti-discrimination laws, Black Californians continue to face hiring practices that exclude them from jobs, result in lower wages, and create less hospitable working conditions compared to their White counterparts. Cal Wellness provided funding to the San Diego Black Worker Center (SDBWC) to help overcome these barriers and advocate for policy changes to advance the economic wellbeing of Black workers and their families.
Additional grants supported the work of the UCLA Labor Center and Inland Empire Black Worker Center.
Advancing Health in Immigrant Communities
Our state leads the nation in expanding access to health care, including services and public benefits for undocumented Californians. However, many immigrants hesitate to seek health care because of concerns that their welfare could be compromised by engaging with state government. The California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC), a leader in the movement to expand health care for the undocumented, was awarded a $1 million grant to serve as a statewide hub for organizations encouraging more immigrants to fully participate in California’s health care system.
Community Leadership and Power
In large parts of California, including the Central Valley, young people sometimes struggle to envision a healthy future. Organizations like LOUD For Tomorrow (LOUD) help create pathways to civic engagement for young Californians so they can more effectively advocate for good jobs, healthy environments and a viable future. With its grant from Cal Wellness of $300,000, LOUD will engage in a range of community organizing strategies throughout the region, including a youth empowerment summit for young BIPOC, queer and trans leaders.
Mission-Aligned Investing
At Cal Wellness, we activate all our assets to support our mission, including how we invest funds in our $1 billion endowment. This year we made a $3 million equity investment through a second commitment to VamosVentures - Fund II. This investment will allow the fund to continue to support Latinx entrepreneurs through scalable, tech-driven companies across four key themes: health and wellness, financial services, the future of work, and sustainability.
“The foundation’s endowment investment in VamosVentures-Fund II marks a milestone in the development and implementation of our mission-aligned investment strategy,” said Javier Hernandez, director of investments at Cal Wellness. “After several years of focused attention on advancing more traditional Program Related Investments, this second round of investment in VamosVentures will help demonstrate that fund managers of color are worthy of our endowment dollars. It also helps us maintain a leadership role among our peer foundations in California seeking to align all their assets with their missions.”
View and download the lists of first quarter grants and second quarter grants.