Ensuring Access to Care: Why Sustaining California’s Health Workforce Investments Matters
California’s shortage of health workers threatens people’s ability to access the care they need to live healthy lives. In response, state policymakers have taken significant steps over the past five years to expand and diversify the health workforce by funding various programs to recruit, educate, train, and retain health workers. However, as the state deals with substantial budget challenges, it is critical that these investments be sustained.
Day 3 – Looking Ahead: A Year of Bold Action
The final day of the 2024 GIH Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy doubled down on a theme we’ve seen throughout our time in Portland. Even if you fund a specific program or issue area, your philanthropy has broader and more profound impacts. Throughout the conference, attendees were encouraged to approach their philanthropy in innovative and new ways. We are excited to hear about your courageous steps to widen your viewpoints, advocacy, and philanthropy in the weeks and months ahead.
Day 2 – Learning from Philanthropy’s Courageous Leaders
On Day 2 of the GIH Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy, the sun emerged and highlighted Portland’s natural beauty. Attendees kicked off this warm summer day with a power walk, networking breakfasts, breakout sessions, and quick takes before the annual Terrance Keenan and Andy Hyman Awards Plenary Luncheon, which honored two incredible leaders in health philanthropy and equity.
Day 1 – Advancing a Movement for Health Equity
Today we welcomed over 600 attendees to our biggest and boldest Grantmakers In Health (GIH) Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy! The conference officially launched with on-site and off-site experiences to introduce attendees to Portland, community organizations, and local health initiatives. GIH Board members and staff warmly welcomed conference newcomers and left them with advice applicable to all attendees: Don’t hesitate to meet new people at the conference. These connections and shared ideas will outlast your time in Portland and advance a movement for health equity.
Preconference – Welcome to the 2024 GIH Conference on Health Philanthropy!
The 2024 Grantmakers In Health Conference on Health Philanthropy, Bold Results Through Courageous Action, launched in Portland, Oregon today, Monday, June 3, 2024, with three engaging pre-conference sessions.
Exploring the Packard Foundation’s U.S. Reproductive Health Initiative
The Packard Foundation has a long history of funding efforts that protect, regain, and expand access to abortion and contraception and funding innovations to expand access to these services as part of its U.S. Reproductive Health initiative. To explore the foundation’s current work, specifically at the state level, Grantmakers In Health’s Miranda Wesley spoke with the Packard Foundation’s U.S. Reproductive Health Director, Elizabeth Arndorfer.
A New Philanthropic Approach to Supporting the Health and Capacity of Rural Communities
To understand health and wellness in rural America, it has been suggested that you need to find a trusted intermediary inside the region that is walking hand-in-hand with the community. Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group describes this type of intermediary as a Rural Development Hub. Rural Development Hubs focus on advancing an asset-based, wealth-building approach to rural community engagement and economic development. This inherently includes increasing the health and wellness of the community and its residents; increasing local ownership of all types of assets from cultural, social, financial to political, attracting external resources and funding; and it always includes low-income, under resourced people and places. Hubs seek to transform regions by treating root causes of multigenerational poverty and disease by shifting the balance of power and developing a stronger power base in the community and with those most impacted by the issues at hand.
Expanding Youth Mental Health in Philadelphia Schools
Youth in the United States are in crisis. Rates of depression and anxiety in children have been on the rise, the result of factors like social media, pandemic related issues like isolation, and trauma from gun violence and poverty. Between 2016 and 2020, diagnoses of depression in youth ages 3-17 increased by nearly 30 percent and were higher for children of color and LGBTQ children according to a 2022 study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
‘Digging In’ to Create a Healthy Agriculture System
Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF), a Grantmakers In Health (GIH) Philanthropy Support Partner, recently released their first documentary film, Digging In, in partnership with Masika Henson, Nathan.works, and Vatheuer Family Foundation. The documentary aims to help funders understand how land access, consolidation, and climate change affect U.S. agriculture, which are all factors that impact health and equity. To learn more about the creation and inspiration behind the film, GIH conducted the following Q&A with SAFSF’s Executive Director Clare Fox.
How Philanthropy Can Support Los Angeles Homeless Providers Facing Challenges Accessing California Housing Services
In 2022, Cedars-Sinai, HealthNet, and the California Community Foundation launched a philanthropic partnership to support a learning collaborative for 11 providers that serve the unhoused to receive capacity building, policy guidance, and other assistance to take advantage of the new CalAIM Community Supports (CS) housing services. Nonprofit Finance Fund engaged providers and provided capacity building and support to each organization to explore CalAIM and plan for their potential engagement in the Medi-Cal service model. Corporation for Supportive Housing is working on an advocacy agenda with the provider cohort as they experienced challenges and barriers during the process. The goal was for their learnings to inform current and future policy and advocacy discussions about the opportunities, challenges, and needs related to Community Supports to promote the highest quality of care for individuals and families who are at risk of becoming unhoused or who are already unhoused.