Healthcare Foundation Receives a Major Grant from The SCAN Foundation to Strengthen Participation of Elderly Residents in Cloverdale

Healdsburg, CA, March 11, 2024 – The Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County today announced a grant of $225,000 from The SCAN Foundation in partnership withthe California Health Care Foundation to create an Equity Community Organizing (ECO) Group in Cloverdale that will engage seniors, and other local residents and stakeholders, in identifying the drivers of health inequities for older residents as well as exploring solutions for aging in health, wellbeing and community.

The ECO Group will also support the county effort around California’s Master Plan for Aging, a developing “blueprint” for state and local government as well as the private and philanthropic sectors which seeks to address coming demographic changes by building a “California for All Ages” by 2030. Partnering organizations supported by the grant include Alexander Valley Healthcare, Cloverdale Multi-Purpose Senior Center, La Familia Sana, Nuestra Comunidad, On the Margins, and Sonoma County’s Council on Aging.

The grant comes as part of The SCAN Foundation’s Advancing Health Equity in Aging initiative, launched in the fall of 2022 in partnership with the California Health Care Foundation. The initiative aims to reduce health inequities and improve the lives of older adults from historically marginalized communities, with an emphasis on older adults of color.

The Cloverdale ECO Group will meet regularly over 18 months at the Cloverdale Senior Center and other locations for charlas y cafecitos (Coffee and Conversations) to share experiences, identify priorities and solutions, and collaborate on ideas. The data and experiences collected and the solutions explored will culminate in a final report shared with Cloverdale residents, government and other stakeholders as a tool to catalyze change. The ECO Group process is also expected to produce informal and/or formal partnerships conducive to the project’s goals of inclusion and equity for older residents.

The ECO Group project meanwhile dovetails with, and builds on, “Nuestra Comunidad Sana,” an initiative by Healthcare Foundation and local community partners currently underway in Cloverdale since 2022 to facilitate and realize a community-envisioned plan for a Community Wellness Center there.

“The support from The SCAN Foundation gives our coalition an outstanding opportunity to deepen the work underway in Cloverdale,” said Healthcare Foundation Executive Director Kim Bender. “At the same time, ECO Group Cloverdale will be independent, and empowered to define its own needs and determine its own solutions.”

“This project recognizes the dignity and agency of Cloverdale residents themselves, including the unique value brought by the lived experiences and knowledge of Cloverdale’s BIPOC elders,” said Jade Weymouth, Executive Director of La Familia Sana. “Many factors can promote or obstruct good mental and physical health in a given community, and elders have knowledge that is invaluable in developing the most effective interventions while honoring language access and cultural competency.”

“The SCAN Foundation is thrilled to be supporting the Cloverdale ECO Group,” said President and CEO Sarita Mohanty. “As part of our commitment to fostering community-led solutions, the ECO Group serves as a catalyst rooted in the lived experiences and knowledge of older adults themselves. This initiative is integral to our mission of advancing health equity in aging and ensuring that all Californians can age well in their homes and communities.”

“Investing in community leaders and organizations is critical for advancing health equity,” said Kate Meyers, Senior Program Officer of the California Health Care Foundation. “CHCF is so pleased to support local leaders and community members through the ECO Groups to identify what older adults from communities of color need to live healthy and meaningful lives.” “The Cloverdale ECO Group offers us the opportunity to integrate more deeply the perspectives of elders and older adults into the Nuestra Comunidad Sana process,” said Daniela Domínguez, Founder and CEO of On the Margins, who has been working in Cloverdale for the last two years to create and deliver culturally responsive and strengths-based mental health and healing programming for the Cloverdale community. “Ensuring that elders and older residents are well-represented and actively engaged and included in the life of our community can foster a greater sense of belonging and improve wellbeing for all.”

About The SCAN Foundation

The SCAN Foundation envisions a society where all of us can age well with purpose. We pursue this vision by igniting bold and equitable changes in how older adults age in both home and community. For more information, visit www.TheSCANFoundation.org

About the California Health Care Foundation

The California Health Care Foundation is an independent, nonprofit philanthropy that works to improve the health care system so that all Californians have the care they need. We focus especially on making sure the system works for Californians with low incomes and for communities who have traditionally faced the greatest barriers to care. For more information, visit www.chcf.org

About On the Margins

Our mission is to collaborate with others to design and implement anti-racist, joy-focused, equitable, sustainable, and affirming practices, initiatives, and policies. We strive to do our work with love, commitment, political action, and freedom dreaming. We envision a world without prisons and borders; that centers racial, gender, economic and ecological justice; that is pro Black Indigenous Womxn of Color and Trans communities; that cherishes pleasure, creative pedagogy, and imaginative exploration; and that centers community accountability. Engaged in solidarity with communities on the margins of society, we address social disparities with love, commitment, and respect. For more information, visit onthemargins.us

About the Healthcare Foundation

The Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County connects people and resources to promote wellness in underserved communities. We do this by supporting nonprofits in the areas of access to healthcare and mental healthcare, with a vision of eliminating health inequities in our region. The organization’s values center on community, compassion, and equity. All our strategies support equitable access to culturally sensitive healthcare and mental health services and promote overall community wellness. Founded in 2001, the Healthcare Foundation has invested more than $24 million to build a healthier region for all who live, work and play in northern Sonoma County. For more information, visit healthcarefoundation.net

Media Contact

Mary Ott, Development Director, Healthcare Foundation, mott@healthcarefoundation.net, (717) 542-4625