The Health Trust awards $645,000 in Health Partnership Grants

For Immediate Release: October 30, 2019
Contact: Maria Garcia | mariag@healthtrust.org | 408.513.8729

San Jose, CA – On Wednesday, September 25, 2019, The Health Trust Board of Trustees approved five grants totaling $645,000 to support The Health Trust’s mission of building health equity in Silicon Valley. The approved grants will: remove financial barriers to food access by subsiding meals for vulnerable older adults; increase access to nutritious food at affordable and supportive housing complexes; develop, implement and institutionalize a diabetes prevention and management program; support innovative ways to increase access and reduce barriers to nutritious foods ; and support Census efforts in N. San Benito County that includes a strategy to encourage hard-to-count populations to participate in the 2020 census.

Breakdown of Grants

Avenidas
Over the next 12 months, Avenidas plans to subsidize 7,800 meals for 150 unduplicated low-income older adults and increase older adults’ knowledge of nutrition education by offering 15 coordinated cooking demonstrations/food seminars at their newly opened Redwood Café. This
café is inspired by Mather’s Cafe in Chicago, and is strategically designed to meet the unique needs of older adults.

First Community Housing (FCH)
Over the next 18 months, FCH plans to implement food programs and services at 10 of the highest need sites and strengthen existing food program being operated at a few of its sites – all which will be informed by needs assessment data. Concurrently, FCH will reactivate and implement system and programmatic changes to better help maintain existing community gardens at eight of its sites, including the creation of a gardening manual. FCH will partner with Valley Verde to pilot a micro-urban farm at Second Street Studios, a first of its kind in Santa Clara County. The lessons learned and best practices from this project will serve as a model for future developments.

Roots Community Health Center, South Bay
Over the next 12 months, Roots plans to develop, pilot and institutionalize a Diabetes Prevention and Management Program at its South Bay clinic. Roots will focus on capacity building of staff; simultaneously, Roots will develop procedures, workflows, and make necessary updates to its
Electronic Health Records. Roots plans to pilot the program and enroll at least 30 patients to the program during the grant period. During the pilot, participants will sustain or improve clinical measurements such as A1C and blood pressure, and increase knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors
regarding diabetes self-management.

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
Over the next 12 months, Second Harvest seeks to increase access to nutritious foods by identifying and working on creative and transformative ways to increase accessibility reach and break down barriers to access.

Youth Alliance
Over the next 12 months, Youth Alliance will provide critical support in the administration, coordination and streamlining of Census 2020 efforts in San Benito County. Additionally, Youth Alliance will help coordinate an outreach campaign targeting hard-to-count (HTC) populations to increase their participation in the 2020 Census.

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About The Health Trust
The Health Trust is an operating foundation founded in 1996. Our mission is to build health equity in Silicon Valley. We believe everyone should have the opportunity to be healthy – especially the most vulnerable. To that end, we fund community-based organizations and public agencies whose work aligns with our mission, provide direct services, and advocate for policies
and initiatives that help build health equity. To learn more, please visit healthtrust.org.

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