JUNE 2024 + PRIDE MONTH

In this month’s update, we are highlighting a change in our funding portfolio along with shoutouts to several Mission Support grantees and shared news with our partner, Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation.

 

Staying Nimble: Shifting Funding Strategies for a New Reality
Advancing health and wellness for those in need

In the wake of the January 2024 devastating flood damage impacting many San Diego communities and the continuing humanitarian support needed for migrants coming through Mexico into San Diego, we have just completed our next year’s budget with an important adjustment in our funding strategies. While most of our grant programs focus on upstream strategic initiatives, we also know that philanthropy plays an important role during regional crises or disaster by providing swift aid to those closest to the impact. We can’t predict the future, but we should expect that the need for us to provide emergency response will arise again, and we have allocated a portion of our annual funding budget for community emergency aid. Some of you may be familiar with AHF’s historical Responsive Grant Program, which provided urgent funds to individual organizations during a time of unexpected change or challenge. We will no longer be operating an open call for such types of grants, but rather be prepared to provide those limited resources in times of broader community need.

Click here to learn more.

 

Celebrating PRIDE Month
North County LGBTQ Resource Center

The North County LGBTQ Resource Center means many things to many people. It is a safe and respectful space where youth and adults from diverse communities come together to build, educate, and be visible symbols of the LGBTQ community in North County San Diego. It’s a safety net of resources that includes support groups for youth, seniors, military service members, HIV/AIDS testing and prevention, counseling, civil rights advocacy, classes, and workgroups. The Center offers free mental health therapy and other medical support. In 2023, the Center reported serving more than 160 individuals with mental health therapy, launching a one-of-a-kind Unicorn Homes program to combat homelessness, and welcoming more than 20,000 visitors to their 2023 Pride by the Beach event.

In addition to AHF supporting North County LGBTQ Resource Center as a Mission Support grantee, we’re pleased to be partnering with them in a community meetup session this summer at which we look forward to engaging with the community directly.

 

Celebrating Community Health Improvement Week (June 15-22, 2024)
UCSD Community Health

We’re pleased to be supporting Mission Support grantee, UC San Diego Center for Community Health, in its mission of advancing health equity through community partnerships as they transform public health practice, research, and education. Of its many services, two programs stand out that resonate deeply with AHF.

• Refugee Health Unit (RHU). Through culturally responsive approaches, the RHU is advancing health equity and well-being in the refugee and immigrant communities of San Diego. Congratulations to the Center for Community Health for being awarded the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award for advancing health equity through collaborative, community-led initiatives like the RHU.
• Community Health Workers for Advancing Public Health (CHWAP). This academic-community collaborative is providing CHWAP job trainings for Community Health Workers (CHWs) and re-skilling job programs for individuals from underserved populations. The Refugee Health Unit is co-leading this project with ethnic community-based organizations, including Somali Family Service of San Diego, to recruit aspiring CHWs from refugee and immigrant communities to its education programs for CHWs, made available through UC San Diego’s Extended Studies Program.

 

Celebrating Immigrant Heritage Month
San Diego Rapid Response Network

San Diego is setting a national example in meeting the basic needs of asylum seekers, thanks to exceptional local leadership and nonprofit collaboration.

The San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN), a Mission Support grantee, is an interconnected system of organizations and individuals responding to dehumanizing immigration enforcement activities, such as checkpoints, raids, arrests, and harassment in San Diego County. Oftentimes the first point of contact for migrants released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the SDRRN provides emergency humanitarian assistance to asylum seekers, including shelter, food, clothing, medical care, and legal support.

SDRRN works with the County of San Diego Migrant Welcome Center to coordinate transportation, temporary housing, and connections to long-term support services. Additionally, they collaborate with the California Welcoming Task Force Coalition, a binational coalition dedicated to safely and efficiently welcoming asylum seekers at the border through cross-sector coordination.

 

“A New Philanthropic Approach to Supporting the Health and Capacity of Rural Communities”
AHF and Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation

In Grantmakers in Health’s May edition of Views from the Field, AHF partner Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation’s unique approach to community building and empowerment is offered as a framework for philanthropy on how to support the health and capacity of rural regions in driving the change they want to see in their communities.

IVWF operates as both grant maker and Rural Development Hub (RDH) in Imperial County. Actualizing its tagline Making the Imperial Valley a Better Place to Live for All, IVWF’s overall mission is about improving prosperity and well-being for everyone in Imperial County. This role gets played out through community building, convening, and connecting disadvantaged communities with nonprofit organizations, business, government, and other funders. Read the story to learn more.

As a longtime funder in Imperial County, Alliance Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation (IVWF) are forming an equitable partnership as a new philanthropic strategy to increase the quality of life for vulnerable populations and disinvested communities.

An equitable partnership signals a transition away from the traditional grantor-grantee relationship to a true partnership based on trust, transparency and accountability that includes sharing information, talent, capital, and other resources, in pursuit of the same goals. In the case of AHF and IVWF, AHF has agreed to make a capital transfer of wealth to IVWF which will ensure IVWF’s autonomy in power building and decision making as it moves its mission forward in the community. In the coming months, look for more news on this evolving partnership.

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