Imagine a Sacramento region where every one of our neighbors thrives — a community where every person, every family, has the opportunity to reach their full potential, unimpeded by barriers. This vision of a just and vibrant capital area cannot be realized through quick fixes or temporary solutions. It demands deep change. At the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, we recognize that to realize this vision, we must go beyond merely treating the symptoms of social inequities. We must also transform the systems that perpetuate them.
It’s common sense. Creating a Sacramento region where everyone flourishes requires a united, sustained effort to eliminate the unjust and avoidable inequalities that harm our neighbors, from inadequate access to nutritious food, to under-resourced mental health services, to barriers that prevent educational success. By making targeted investments, we can support those who bear the greatest burdens and build robust systems that ensure a more equitable future for all. That’s why, in the coming years, we will intensify our strategic grantmaking to enhance health equity in communities within Sacramento and Yolo counties that have faced generations of underinvestment.
Health equity is a broad area, you might be thinking. That’s why we are narrowing our focus to address health-related issues in specific communities. Consider this: in agriculturally abundant Yolo County, nearly one in three households struggle to access affordable, nutritious food, with Black and Latino families disproportionately affected.1 In Sacramento County, one in five young people grapple with significant mental health challenges, and these issues are most acute among Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ youth.2
What does tackling health inequities at their root causes look like?
Strengthening the system of food suppliers to ensure healthy food gets to local families.
Building networks that increase access to mental health services for area youth.
Advocating for meaningful policy change so future leaders can earn their degrees.
Building a more just and flourishing Sacramento region demands bold action and innovative solutions. From fostering cross-sector partnerships to advocating for transformative policy changes, our approach is guided by our mission, driven by our values, and accomplished in partnership with community-based organizations, philanthropists, and passionate people who care. People like you.
After all, bringing together neighbors to invest in local solutions to complex problems is one of our specialties. These efforts to improve health and educational equity renew and deepen past work: Our long-term partnerships in the food ecosystem helped limit food insecurity as it skyrocketed during the pandemic. In the last year alone, we stewarded over $300,000 to increase mental health supports for youth-focused partners. And with scholarships and other programs, we have four decades of education-related philanthropic investments, totaling millions of dollars awarded to support student success.
Through those efforts and others, we know that the most impactful philanthropic initiatives are built on collaborations marked by trust and care. That’s why we developed this new direction for our community-based work during a year-long, community-centered process. Our staff and Board of Directors pored over landscape analyses and listened to the insights of hundreds of individuals who are closest to the challenges we wish to solve — together. We thank those of you who offered us time and trust in this process; your voices will continue to guide our efforts forward, to ensure a brighter, more equitable future for all who call this region home.
Now, let’s get to work!
1 Yolo Food Bank’s Yolo County Food Access Survey Report
2 NAMI; Stop Sigma Sacramento
Photos above courtesy of (clockwise): American Indian Summer Institute, Yolo Food Bank, and Improve Your Tomorrow.
Build a More Just, Vibrant Region
Join this collaborative, community-driven work with a gift to the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s Impact Fund.