L.A. Care Health Plan recently announced awards of up to $516,000 to projects that support the healthcare safety net, reduce health disparities, and empower social service organizations to address systemic racism and promote systemic justice, which means helping marginalized communities fight for racial, social and economic justice. Three organizations have been chosen for grants ranging from $100,000 to $266,000.
“Addressing systemic racism is critical for achieving health equity,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO.
“As a health plan, L.A. Care is working with community-based organizations that have developed varying strategies to mitigate the harmful impact of historical racism and discrimination, in hopes of closing health disparities gaps.”
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The largest of the three grants for $266,000, has been awarded to UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind, a program that helps transform the lives of nearly 200,000 students annually throughout Los Angeles County. This funding will deliver comprehensive physical education programs and resources to four middle schools with under-resourced student populations in the Watts, Compton and Lynwood areas.
“For decades, growing rates of inactivity and childhood obesity have deeply impacted our youth, often disproportionately affecting those from under-resourced communities,” said Matt Flesock, executive director of UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind.
“Our approach provides schools with state-of-the-art fitness centers, curriculum, and teacher training, helping school-based physical education programs get students moving in a fun and engaging way, ultimately helping them chart a path to a healthier and more active future.”
A second grant for $150,000 was awarded to the Southside Coalition of Community Health Clinics, a coalition of seven Federally Qualified Health Centers serving South Los Angeles. The funding will support a care coordination project for patients who are admitted to Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center or who receive care in the center’s emergency department.
This program greatly reduces the number of patients with return visits to the hospital and emergency department. Patient navigators assist patients with scheduling follow-up appointments with their primary care providers and referrals to other community resources, as needed, to help manage their health condition with wrap-around support.
The third grant for $100,000 was awarded to Helpline Youth Counseling, Inc (HYC) Dream Resource Centers, which are culturally competent, safe environments at five high-need schools in Southeast Los Angeles. The funding will be used to reduce risk factors that lead to violence and discrimination against marginalized students of color, primarily through art interventions, peer-to-peer mediation and counseling, and restorative justice activities.
The three grants align with L.A. Care’s commitment to advancing health equity, ensuring that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.
