California
What is the California Health Equity & Racial Justice Fund? | Race and Culture
The proposed HERJ fund would supply $100 million in annual funding to community-based teams, tribal organizations, and clinics to help marginalized communities.
SACRAMENTO, Calif — A couple of dozen folks rallied in entrance of the California State Capitol Friday morning in Sacramento.
The group urged Gov. Gavin Newsom and the State Legislature to incorporate the California Well being Fairness and Racial Justice Fund (HERJ Fund) within the 2022-23 state price range.
The HERJ fund would supply $100 million in annual funding to community-based teams, tribal organizations, and clinics (CBOs) to help marginalized communities. The fund will help CBOs to:
- Cut back well being and social inequities that affect communities of shade and different marginalized communities.
- Remodel neighborhood circumstances and institutional/authorities programs to advertise racial justice.
“Neighborhood-based organizations, clinics, and tribal organizations play an vital, but usually unnoticed and unfunded, position in positively addressing social determinants of well being,” stated Oussama Mokkedem, the director of State Coverage, Public Well being Advocates. “These are the issues that make us wholesome, the place we stay, work, and play. Issues like housing, entry to scrub water and nutritious meals, the power to stroll in our neighborhoods, and extra.”
Regardless of some help from the California Legislature, Gov. Newsom didn’t embrace the HERJ Fund within the state price range proposal in January. Greater than 200 organizations, together with 300-plus folks, additionally help the proposed fund.
“I dedicate my life and profession to combating well being inequities,” stated Genoveva Islas, government director of Cultiva la Salud. “Now we have had success, however our funding has been a problem. Working grant to grant doesn’t enable us to maintain actions and applications for neighborhood. We deserve higher.”
Many supporters of the fund additionally famous how the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted communities of shade, exacerbating already current well being inequities and racial injustices.
That features a larger danger of contracting and dying from COVID-19, excessive charges of job and earnings loss, insecure housing, meals insecurity, and way more.
“Governor Newsom must step up on the problem of racial fairness and racial justice,” stated Ronald Coleman, managing director of Coverage, California Pan-Ethnic Well being Community. “We will do much more as a state to make sure that well being fairness tasks are decreasing inequalities in our communities, whereas additionally centered on tackling what precipitated these inequalities within the first place, racism, and coping with that situation in our native communities throughout the state.”
Sacramento is considered one of a sequence of justice rallies held in Los Angeles, Fresno, Oakland, and San Diego. To be taught extra concerning the HERJ Fund, go to the official web site. To view Gov. Newsom’s proposed state price range plan in full, go to the State of California web site.
