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Our Mission
The California Endowment is a private, statewide health foundation founded in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment is a foundation that was established in 1996 with the assets from the conversion of Blue Cross of California from a nonprofit to a for-profit company.
Our History
Over the course of its history, The Endowment has invested in health broadly, ranging from investments in strengthening the safety net to disease-specific initiatives, and beyond.
Previous initiatives were launched to:
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Expand kids' access to health coverage and services;
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Strengthen the safety-net system of community clinics;
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Help diversify California's health care work force so as to more closely mirror the demographics of the state;
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Improve access to health care interpreters for California's limited-English proficient communities;
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Reduce asthma triggers in communities with high rates of asthma; and
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Prevent childhood obesity in communities across California by taking an environmental approach that seeks to change communities so that the healthy choice is the easy choice.
Our Vision
 The lessons learned from these early investments have formed the foundation for Building Healthy Communities. By taking an upstream approach that emphasizes prevention on a community level, we can improve the health status of all Californians. Building Healthy Communities seeks to create communities where prevention is a priority and is reflected in the physical environment and socioeconomic conditions of these neighborhoods.
Now - from 2010 through 2020 - The Endowment will focus on the implementation of Building Healthy Communities in 14 geographically diverse communities throughout California. The goal: to create neighborhoods that support health and prevention by improving the systems and policies contributing to the poor health of Californians in low-income communities. These system and policy changes will benefit all Californians. Led by its Board of Directors and President and CEO Robert K. Ross, M.D., The Endowment is headquartered in downtown Los Angeles with regional offices in Sacramento, Oakland, Fresno and San Diego. |
