Grant Recipients
The Eden Health District has been a leader in encouraging and supporting innovative health care exploration and solves significant health care issues in the Eden Health District. The Community Health Fund invests in programs that provide direct health care services, health education, health maintenance, health promotion, prevention programs and services and access to health services. All funded grants have gone through a peer-review process which meets the standards of the district.
The Eden Health District has been a leader in encouraging and supporting innovative health care exploration and solves significant health care issues in the Eden Health District. The Community Health Fund invests in programs that provide direct health care services, health education, health maintenance, health promotion, prevention programs and services and access to health services. All funded grants have gone through a peer-review process which meets the standards of the district.
In 2024 the following 14 agencies were awarded grants:
Provides health education classes to low-income and underserved racially diverse communities for promoting equity in health outcomes. Health education empowers individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to prevent and manage chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Their Nutrition program also serves as a great partner to their existing Senior Meal (also called Older Adult Fellowship and Lunch) which emphasizes healthy eating and nutritious meals.
The program includes immediate, crisis-oriented services delivered on-site when a family is first referred to CALICO, followed by follow-up services that promote positive mental health and healing.
TAGS is a nonprofit creative reuse hub serving a diverse and underserved community of transition-age youth. They offer a safe space for creative exploration, connection, and purpose, bringing together a cultivation of the arts, sustainability, and youth empowerment. TAGS celebrates individuality and well-being with their motto: “Create More, Stress Less.” Their Creative Reuse Youth Project is specifically designed to empower young individuals by providing them with tools and opportunities necessary to thrive both creatively and emotionally.
Eden United Church of Christ’s (EUCC) Comida Para Cherryland (CPC) addresses food insecurity in our community. Since its inception in 2012, CPC has provided just-in-time food distribution to families who identify as food insecure. The initiative began as a community-led project, inspired by local migrant mothers who saw the need for a program that would not only assist the community but also bring members of all ages together to share ideas and thoughts. By offering outreach in multiple languages, they can continue to support our community effectively, providing essential information about Medi-Cal, Cal-Fresh, and WIC.
EBAC centers in San Leandro and Hayward serve individuals and families who are most impacted by social determinants of health. Clients are primarily low-income, limited English proficient (primarily Spanish speaking), and immigrants or refugees. Families face persistent financial challenges from COVID-19 and inflation. The majority of clients are identified by school districts as those in need of public benefits, housing or access to mental health services, and who can be supported by their family resource centers and warm hand-offs to other community-based organizations. Staff at the centers partner with these families to achieve family-identified goals aimed at strengthening wellness and stability, resilience, opportunity, and self-sufficiency. Staff work directly with families to connect them to family resource center services such as public benefits enrollment assistance, parenting classes, grief support, early childhood education, leadership development, case management, and more. Staff additionally provide assistance or make referrals to community partners to support families in accessing concrete basic needs (e.g., food, clothing, housing) that families have identified as barriers to achieving their family goals.
Love Never Fails services are part of their Therapeutic Outreach Network (TON), a mobile mental health program to provide counseling for Hayward residents.
SOSMOW operates the largest Meals on Wheels program in San Leandro, Hayward, Castro Valley, and San Lorenzo. Funding from the grant supports raw food and kitchen staff. Meals are delivered 248 days per year Monday through Friday, with weekend meals delivered with Thursday & Friday meals. In addition to meals, their clients receive a wellness check by their drivers, with each delivery. Socialization with their drivers is vital for decreasing isolation and loneliness.
The Teen Mental Health Wellness Initiative continues the goal of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Leandro to become a truly trauma-informed organization encompassing our youth, families, and staff. Through their MTSS (Multi-Tiered Support System) Coordinator they provide behavioral support strategies to the work they do at all levels. Their Teen mental health focus includes conducting behavioral observations, developing support plans, consulting on the implementation of the support plans, providing professional development in positive behavior management, and facilitating support meetings and group discussions with teens.
Grant funding expanded the San Lorenzo Family Help Center’s expansion of their food pantry and food recovery program, and the development of a Farmers Market mobile pantry. Their project provides increased nutritious food availability for low income and very low income individuals, seniors, and families. The project will also increase the number of people they can provide with food support, increase the variety of available ethnic foods, vegan foods, and to increase food access by expanding their physical distribution sites.
Funding enhanced the capacity of La Clínica’s Fuente Wellness Center (Fuente) and San Lorenzo High Health Center (SLZHC) to reach youth with comprehensive health services and targeted outreach outside of clinic walls. The Eden Area Health Education Projectnot only promotes access to comprehensive health services but also offers ongoing support and resources that adolescents need to make and sustain choices that protect their health well into adulthood.
Spectrum’s Senior Meals Program provides mobile seniors a hot meal served in a communal setting where they can “Meet & Eat.” The program also offers a takeaway option for those who prefer not to eat in a congregate setting known as “Grab & Connect.” The lunch service is available five days a week at five meal sites in the Eden area. Currently, more than half of the Senior Meals participants in the Eden area are in the category of extremely low-income (30% of HUD median income and below).
Schools are a key setting for youth suicide prevention, where helpful youth, teachers, school mental health staff, and other school personnel are in a position of helping. These individuals have a potential to enhance the natural safety net of our school communities by recognizing when a young person is at risk and most importantly, to connect them to supportive care. The Teens for Life Program recognizes this dynamic as a circle of support for youth, which also includes parents, caregivers, and guardians whose role is to provide a supportive environment at home. The program provides a comprehensive approach to youth suicide prevention education in schools.
Recognizing food as a cornerstone of health and well being, Eden Youth and Family Center, in partnership with the City of Hayward and Organize Hayward!, launched the inaugural South Hayward Community Market on July 28, 2024. Held in the South Hayward BART parking lot, this vibrant event became a central gathering point, with families enjoying high-quality organic, local produce at an affordable price, sampling homemade goods, purchasing unique handmade creations, and connecting families with vital health resources.
The Sister Me Home Safe House and the San Leandro Shelterare open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Services are designed to provide everything participants need to leave homelessness and domestic violence behind and build a better future. All adult residents of the shelter and safe house are offered domestic violence support and education when needed. Their specialized children’s services and activities address the unique needs of children living at Sister Me Home and the San Leandro Shelter, including academic support, health insurance coverage, health and dental care, and developmental or behavioral issues that may call for outside resources.