Healthcare is Love | El Acceso al Cuidado da la Salud es Una Expresión de Amor

Dear Friends,

I want to thank all of you who attended or supported our dynamic “Healthcare Is Love” event on February 9th. It was a great success—in helping to ensure we have the resources to continue advancing health equity in our region, and as a truly beautiful day together, full of positivity, laughter and hope.

The title we chose for our event was more than sentiment. It’s a fact. Without love, acceptance and belonging, we cannot live healthy lives. With them, moreover, we can truly save lives.

The Healthcare Foundation’s mission focuses on equitable access for all to quality healthcare and mental healthcare, but we never forget that central to these necessities are the even more basic ones of love and belonging. This understanding is at work in our support of multicultural and intergenerational community wellness centers in Windsor, Healdsburg and Cloverdale. It’s there in our support of Latine seniors and their self-empowerment in Cloverdale. It shines through the community of bilingual mental health professionals we have helped to nurture through our Mental Health Talent Pipeline scholarship program. And it’s there, too, in our newly formed Northern Sonoma County Coalition.

You’ll find that understanding again in this month’s newsletter, in the remarks and clear-eyed vision of our new Board Chair, Mona Hanes. It’s echoed in the words and lifelong dedication of new Board member Dr. Jed Weissberg. And you’ll see it reflected, too, in the community spirit and generosity of Healthcare Hero and sustaining donor Sue Rink.

All of our efforts, collectively with your support, are channeled locally, back to our northern Sonoma County communities, in programming and initiatives that are guided by local voices, priorities, expertise and experience. Above all, they are animated throughout by love, acceptance and belonging.

With appreciation,

Amy Ramirez
Executive Director

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Recent Grant Announcement

We were so pleased to welcome Cindy Berrios, interim CEO of On the Margins and officially present her with a big check! This financial support was granted by Kaiser Permanente for the NEPANTLAH program serving bilingual and multicultural mental health practitioners, community health workers, and caregivers committed to self-understanding, healing, and growth. 

You can learn more about the program here. Many thanks to Kaiser for their ongoing support and On the Margins for their tireless work!

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A Conversation with the Healthcare Foundation’s new Board Chair, Mona Hanes

Mona Hanes, with her husband, Kevin Gay, settled in Healdsburg in 2011. With more than four decades experience at well-established financial institutions around the world, Mona brings financial expertise and a compassionate heart to the Healthcare Foundation, positioning her perfectly to lead us in coming years as the new Board Chair.

Upon retiring in 2018, Mona devoted much of her time volunteering as an advocate on behalf of community members experiencing homelessness in northern Sonoma County. She served on the board of Reach for Home for many years until terming off in 2023.

Never one to be idle, Mona accepted an invitation to join the Healthcare Foundation Board that same year, initially serving on the Finance Committee. Beginning January 2025, as its new Board Chair, we asked for her perspective on Healthcare Foundation’s evolving role in the health ecosystem of northern Sonoma County, and what she sees ahead.

Full Article (4 min read)

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New Board Member Spotlight: Meet Jed Weissberg, M.D.!

The Healthcare Foundation is pleased and grateful to welcome five new members to its Board of Directors in 2025, and we are featuring a conversation with each of them over the first months of the new year. In January we spoke with Pamela Torresdey. This month we caught up with Dr. Jed Weissberg, who joins the Healthcare Foundation Board after completing his service on the board of the Northern California Providence Hospital system, which includes Healdsburg Hospital.

A native of New Jersey, Jed settled in Healdsburg in 2018 with his wife and fellow physician Shelley, both having recently retired from careers at Kaiser Permanente in the East Bay. Since then, in addition to the aforementioned board service, Jed has been active with the North Sonoma County Healthcare District and on the strategic planning committee of the Healdsburg Hospital. We asked him recently about what motivates him in his community service and what he sees as the best opportunities for securing the ongoing health and wellbeing of the region he calls home.

Full Article (2 min read)

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Healthcare Hero Spotlight: A Conversation with Sue Rink

Sue Rink has been devoted to her Cloverdale community for years, first as a school teacher: she taught at Jefferson Elementary from 1999 until her retirement in 2012. Since then, Sue has been a generous donor to various small, local organizations. 

It was her good friend and neighbor (and former Healthcare Foundation Board member) Peter McAweeney who first told her about the Healthcare Foundation, inviting her to some events. Impressed by the Healthcare Foundation’s emphasis on education, including in its pipeline for mental health professionals, Sue became a Healthcare Hero and chose to make her contribution in the form of a monthly sustaining gift, recognizing the importance to the organization of the steady, reliable funding stream that monthly sustaining donations provide. 

Sue graciously agreed to speak with us recently from her home in Kauai, where she spends part of every year, about her connection to Cloverdale and northern Sonoma County and what inspires her to give back to her community.

Full Article (3 min read)

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Become a Healthcare Hero Monthly Sustainer

Thanks to Sue and our generous community of HEROES, we are able to better plan ahead while further expanding our support of local frontline nonprofit organizations working to ensure equitable access to healthcare and mental health services.

Become a monthly HERO for health and join your fellow HEROES on May 3rd at Bacchus Landing for our first HEALTHCARE HERO family celebration.
More details forthcoming…..

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CELEBRATE | CONNECT | CONTRIBUTE

We loved celebrating with many of you at the Healthcare is Love – Drag Brunch on Sunday, February 9. Thank you for supporting the lively event, which blended fabulous entertainment with a mission to improve local healthcare access. Please enjoy the event photos and, if you were unable to attend, we look forward to hosting you next February for Healthcare is Love!

Thank you to our sponsors! (Full list here)