CVS Health has an idea on improving health equity in Fresno neighborhoods
A new initiative designed to reduce health disparities and advance health equity in underserved communities across the country has arrived in Fresno.
The program Health Zones: Fresno, which was introduced by CVS Health on Jan. 19, supports local partners to address six key social determinants of health: housing, education, access to food, labor, transportation, and health care access.
“We’re really trying to make sure that we can reduce health disparities and advance health equity,” said Eileen Boone, CVS Health senior vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility & Philanthropy and Chief Sustainability Officer.
“We’re looking primarily at access to food, education, labor and health care access. And so, we’re doing it with the combination of a number of nonprofits,” Boone said.
Boone said the focus is Fresno’s 93721 zip code, which is south of Divisadero/Tulare, west of Fresno Stree, and east of the Union Pacific Railroad. More than 65% of the area’s residents are Latino.
“We feel like we can identify some of these gaps and work with the local organizations to remediate them,” Boone said.
As part of the Health Zones initiative, CVS Health invested $300,000 in three local non-profit organizations: Central California Food Bank, Clinica Sierra Vista, and Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission.
“We did it with the idea of how do we find, you know, nonprofits with boots on the ground that can really help us help with this journey and the journey we’re calling is health, housing, education, access to food, labor, transportation and health care,” Boone said.
Central CA Food Bank is increasing access to food boxes.
“With CVS and other partners, we’re going to be distributing two types of boxes, one that’s geared towards our homeless population and then one box that is geared towards a heart healthy box,” said Natalie Caples, co-CEO, Central California Food Bank. “And both of these boxes, are new opportunities for us.”
Caples said the food bank has never specifically focused on the homeless. The partnership and funding, she said, will allow the food bank “to support subsets of the population here in Fresno that are food insecure and need support.
“A traditional food distribution or food pantry may not have the types of commodities that meet their needs or their lifestyle,” Caples said, adding that the food bank found ready-to-eat meals where people can just like pop something and it heats like on its own.
“So, it’s really geared at meeting the neighbors like where they are and what specific assistance they need,” Caples said.
Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission is creating a pipeline for high school equivalency programs and workforce training programs.
“We are delighted to be a partner with CVS and this funding. We are poverty fighters. And one of the aims is to fight poverty every day through the 30-plus programs we have. The funding of this cycle from the CVS grant will support three of our programs,” said Michelle Tutunjian, Fresno EOC chief operating officer, who oversees a number of EOC programs, including the three benefitting from the CVS Initiative.
Tutunjian said one of those three programs is their sanctuary and support services, which is the housing arm of the agency.
“We are going to get $30,000 to support critical facility improvements to our emergency shelters,” Tutunjian said, adding that they have two emergency shelters for youth as well as the agency’s bridge housing.
Tutunjian said another part of the funding will support the agency’s food distribution efforts.
“They’re going to be giving us $25,000 to alleviate hunger in Fresno County for our families,” Tutunjian said, adding that last year alone they served nearly 15,000 families at 83 food distribution sites.
Tutunjian said a third component of the funding ($20,000 grant) is training and employment efforts for youth, which is going to add to their summer youth internship program to increase their job readiness skills and complete their paid work experience.
“Fresno EOC fights poverty and through partnerships like CVS, we’re able to do the work and we really appreciate the funding,” Tutunjian said.
Clinica Sierra Vista, will provide no-cost care, vaccinations, screenings, and other critical health care services. Clinica received $150,000 for a central Fresno mobile medical unit for homeless population patients.
Beside Fresno, the Health Zones initiative is active in Atlanta; Columbus, Ohio; Hartford, Connecticut; and Phoenix.
“Each one of our markets has particular gaps that we’re trying to fill,” Boone said. “it’s an opportunity for us to partner with these local nonprofits. Make sure that we can continue to titrate the work.”
Boone said CVS Health has made a five-year commitment to the initiate.
“When we think about this zip code and the opportunities to affect change, we think there’s a real opportunity of finding and working over the next five years to address these gaps and building a long-term relationship with them,” Boone said. “I think is going to be enormously helpful. And we’re really grateful for the partnerships with these nonprofits because they are the insight and the understanding of what’s happening in 93721.”
“You’ll probably see this evolve over the next couple of years with other offerings and services. We’ve made a significant investment in the Housing complex, but we’ve also invested a total of $300000 in addition to that into these non-profits,” Boone said. “These programs are available now, so as we go forward, these are opportunities that people can take advantage of.”
Since 2000, CVS Health has invested $18.8 million in affordable housing in Fresno and $185 million in affordable housing nationwide in 2021.
“We’ll be adjusting as we go along, but there’s going to be an annual commitment to this market.,” Boone said.
Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 9 de febrero de 2022, 11:01 a. m..
