The new year has brought a lot of change, but one thing that has remained constant is Alliance Healthcare Foundation’s commitment to advance the health and wellness of the communities we serve. Our collaborative efforts to overcome challenges and the recognition of organizations within the region for the month of January are highlighted in this post.   – Nancy Sasaki, Executive Director

January 2: It’s hard to believe that it’s already 2017! As we look to the New Year, we recommit our efforts to AHF’s vision in our New Year statement. We decided to come back to work on the 2nd (New Year’s Day observed) because of a very busy schedule this week. However, most of the work this week is being done internally amongst our team.

I  met with Lee and Spencer Stein to hear more about their start-up project called Spiral Therapy, a technology platform which addresses the most common musculoskeletal conditions.

January 4: I met with Moises Baron, CEO of Center for Children to hear more about a new idea they are currently exploring. The Center for Children seeks to inspire a world where all children and families live joyful, healthy lives. Their new concept certainly sounds promising, as it is going to address some of the gaps in the services needed by the community.

January 7: Tonight AHF hosted our annual board dinner social at Herb & Wood in Little Italy, downtown San Diego. Except for the dessert, all of the food served was healthy – a great way to start the year with a healthy diet in mind! Of course, we always have a little bit of fun when we all get together. This year, we had a playlist which included everyone’s favorite song. We had to guess the song, the artist, and the person who selected it as their favorite. Before it was over, they also had to dance! We all had a wonderful evening and it was a good to celebrate all of AHF’s successes from 2016.

January 9: I started the day meeting with Ray Ellis. Ray is a champion for the homeless and is exploring more ways to get involved with this issue! It was encouraging to learn even more about his interests and to connect him with more service providers.

That afternoon I headed over to the County Administration building for the Integrative Services Advisory Council. We heard updates on the Whole Person Care project and Project One for All. We ended the meeting hearing about other’s perspectives of how health and wellness could be impacted in San Diego County with the new administration.

January 10: I joined a webinar highlighting the successes of the three communities that participated in the 100-Day Challenge to house homeless youth. Austin,TX, Cleveland, OH, and Los Angeles, CA were the three communities who accepted the challenge and worked to house youth in their communities. Each group exceeded their goals and learned more about the challenge of homelessness in their communities. Each also learned a great deal about how to effectively collaborate in a short timeframe.

January 11: Today as I made my way onto the television set, I thought to myself, “What has John Ohanian, CEO of 2-1-1 San Diego gotten me into!” John and I were guests on the Real Talk/Live Well San Diego live broadcast. It was helpful to share information about our work within our organizations, collaborative efforts to tackle homelessness, and the Community Information Exchange (CIE). We were able to share more about the merger of 2-1-1 and CIE and how this merger fits into their person-centered care model, now known as 360º community coordination!

January 12: Today I headed to Imperial County for the Imperial Valley Homeless Task Force meeting. The Task Force oversees the needs and services for the homeless population of Imperial County. The meeting has been restructured to focus on more business-related topics, such as the Point In Time Count (PITC). Imperial County conducted their PITC on Friday evening, January 27 at 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday out at The Slabs at 9 a.m.

January 13: Today AHF staff headed to Balboa Park for our annual family get together. We started at the “Lore Behind the Roar” exhibit at the San Diego Zoo, followed by cocktails at Panama 66, and ended with dinner at The Prado. We are small, but mighty and wouldn’t have done it without our team! Thanks to CFO Paul Brown, Program Officer Michele Silverthorn, and Office Manager Bryan Fisher for all you do for AHF and our community!

January 17: Today I drove to Long Beach to meet with my colleagues who are leaders of Healthcare Foundations throughout CA. Hosted by Bruce Chernof, CEO of The SCAN Foundation and Judy Belk, CEO of California Wellness, we were provided updates from Diana Dooley, Secretary of CA Health and Human Services. With many new actions from the new administration in D.C., we are all concerned about access to healthcare in California during the upcoming months and years.

While I spent the day in Long Beach, Michele spent her time in Imperial County. Her first stop was a visit to the House of Hope, Catholic Charities. Michele toured the facility with Program Manager Lupe Rodriguez and learned about the women and children that access the shelter. From there, she visited with new CRCD CEO Helen Palomino and past CEO Diana Peacher. Aside from the changes in leadership, The Cancer Resource Center of the Desert has been presented with amazing opportunities for social enterprise and program growth. The CRCD is committed to providing Imperial Valley cancer patients personalized free services to help them manage their diagnosis.

Michele’s last stop of the day was a visit to Easter Seal’s Adult Day Services in El Centro with Chief Development Officer Nancy Weintraub and Vice President of Adult Day Services Kathleen Kolenda. Easter Seals provides exceptional services, education, outreach, and advocacy so that people living with autism and other disabilities can live, learn, work and play in our communities. The center just had a giant makeover due in part to fully transitioning from a clinical/medical model to a social model. This new model is better for the client’s wellness and is also less expensive for the facility.

January 18: This afternoon Michele and I met with Andrea Yoder-Clark, CEO of LiveGoode to talk about how we can best utilize data. We had an interesting discussion about collecting new data to further inform our stakeholders and to understand the full impact our work has in the community. More to come on this topic!

January 19: I started the morning meeting with Rick Gentry, CEO and Melissa Peterman, VP of Homeless Housing Innovations of the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC). The SDHC is dedicated to preserving and increasing affordable housing within the City of San Diego. We talked about the merger of the Regional Continuum of Care Governing board with the Regional Task Force on the Homeless. We are excited to see what the future holds and the positive efforts brought about due to the merger.

I also had lunch with Kitty Bailey, CEO of Be There San Diego to get caught up on her work with the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative.  Working in the Southeast San Diego area, the CACHI effort will bring together diverse stakeholders serving the health needs of the residents in order to create a coordinated care effort along with responsive services to reduce costs, improve quality and increase capacity.

Michele attended Episcopal Community Services’ (ECS) open house to view the new facility for their Para las Familias Program. With an increase in county funding, ECS was able to expand the mental health services programs. The Para Las Familias Program provides mental health services to low-income children ages 0-5 and their families or caregivers. ECS provides many services in the South Bay and East County including, but not limited to, mental health, homelessness, child development and substance abuse.

January 21: Today I walked with many other leaders in our community in the Women’s March to show my support for women’s rights, access to healthcare, and tolerance.

January 23: As a member of the board for San Diegans for Healthcare Coverage, it was an interesting first meeting of the New Year! SDHC serves as a catalyst for achieving a vision for better health in the San Diego Region by leading through advocacy and education. Executive Director Jan Spencely  is concerned about any changes that will be made to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), especially in regards to how it will impact overall access.

January 25: I participated in a webinar with the Public Health Institute, American Public Health Association, and Trust for America’s Health to talk about the opportunities and challenges to strengthening prevention and population health. The common theme was collaboration in order to integrate services. We also heard about strategies to prioritize health, safety and equity.

Later that afternoon, I welcomed our new board member Mary Lewis with an overview of our work. As a member of our Finance Committee, Mary will now bring her expertise to our  board of trustees.

January 26: I started my morning in National City with Barbara Jimenez from County Health and Human Services and Kathy Lembo, CEO of South Bay Community Services at the South Region Leadership Meeting. One of the highlights of this meeting was an overview of data pertaining to the changes in the South Region between 2010 and 2016. A couple of items that stood out were the substantial increase in the number of people over the age of 65 and the idea that although more people reported that rent was less than 30% of their income, it is mostly due to sharing the costs associated with rent. Although we know that the population is aging everywhere, these numbers highlighted this in the South Region. How this will impact service providers could be of significance in the very near future.

January 27: In an effort to learn more about investing in entrepreneurs, I have been participating in a series of workshops hosted by CONNECT. They help to create and scale great innovative companies through access to the resources that entrepreneurs and growing companies need most. Today I learned more about angel investing: when it comes into play, the expectations on returns, the challenges faced when venture capitalists come on board, and how this all impacts the entrepreneurs’ planning process.

January 30: There are always new organizations and amazing leaders showing up in San Diego and today Michele met with Eric Lovett, Founder of Urban Street Angels and 8 West. Urban Street Angels runs two transitional youth homeless houses and a one day-a-week emergency shelter. The youth learn job skills to help them progress in life and make handcrafted organic soap to supplement the cost of their programs .

I was called to serve for jury duty, so I had no meetings scheduled for January 30 – 31! I showed up to fulfill my civic duty, but wasn’t selected for a jury. Fortunately,I had a lot of reading materials with me for the jury lounge.

Have questions or comments about AHF in the community?

Contact Executive Director Nancy Sasaki or Program Officer Michele Silverthorn to learn more about AHF in the community and how we work to advance health and wellness.

On The Community Calendar

• Feb 21: Resilience Film Screening & Community Meeting with the City of Chula Vista and San Diego Foundation at the CVHS Performing Arts, 3:00 – 6: 00 pm. Click here for details and the trailer.
• Save the Date! March 30: Funding Innovation Forum, UCSD Sanford Consortium – Duane. J. Roth Auditorium, 8:30 am to 11 am

To keep up with us as we attend events next month and beyond, follow @AllianceHF on Twitter and LinkedIn, or like us on Facebook.