Protecting Sacramento's unhoused pet community

The city of Tucson and two nonprofit partners, Primavera Foundation and Old Pueblo Community Services, launched STAR Village, a safe sleeping site offering supervised tent housing, bathrooms, showers, case management, and outreach services for up to 25 homeless women and nonbinary people. The site is entering its second year, funded by approximately $300,000 in unspent city office budgets, plus nonprofit contributions.

In Kern County, where pregnancy-related mortality rates are more than double the California average and Black mothers face life-threatening complications at nearly three times the rate of white women, community doulas are working to bridge the gap between patients and the medical system. Since California expanded Medi-Cal coverage to include doula services in January 2023, more than 1,400 doulas have enrolled statewide, with active training pipelines building the workforce locally.

Diaper Dollars provides parents in Illinois and Ohio with a $40 e-card each month that they can use at major retailers like Walmart and CVS to purchase diapers. Nearly 8,000 people have been served so far, with 10,000 projected by 2026. About 90 percent of those who went through the program reported being able to better afford other essentials like food, rent and other bills with a portion of their diaper costs covered.

Black immigrant women are serving as informal "health connectors" in their communities, using shared language and cultural understanding to help immigrants navigate the U.S. health care system. These unpaid navigators guide people through insurance applications, connect them to doctors, host community events and distribute multilingual information to break down barriers to health care.

The Care Now Clinic, established by Behavioral Healthcare Partners of Central Ohio, offers early crisis intervention services for those ages 12 and up, helping bridge the care gap between emergency rooms and waiting to see a physician. The group also recently launched a mobile crisis unit to even further expand access to care. Research shows these models cost less, reduce emergency room visits and make handling chronic conditions more manageable.

Necesito Abortar is a group of 20 “acompañantes” (companions) who provide support and education throughout the abortion process. The group provides counseling, in-person and virtual accompaniment and follow-up care for people seeking at-home abortions. The group also works to take care of its volunteers by hosting annual meetings for volunteers to connect, and encouraging them to make time for self care.

La Sala is a community center that provides harm reduction services to those in need. People can come in to exchange used needles for clean ones and other supplies to make drug use safer. The Center also provides naloxone and testing for HIV and other diseases, all for free. The Center reopened in mid-2019 and has had about 1,900 visits since then.

Local activists are joining together to protest the potential closure of Southwest Memorial Hospital’s birthing center, advocating and organizing to ensure the hospital stays open and locals can access the care they need in rural areas.

Insurance provider GreenShield, in collaboration with university insurance broker Studentcare, provides lifetime coverage of up to $10,000 for gender-affirming care procedures not covered by provincial health insurance. This insurance benefit provides care to more than 200,000 university students across 20 participating schools in the country.

The Citizens-Led Tracking Campaign bridges the gap between the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Funds and the effective delivery of healthcare by sending citizens — called community champions — out on the grassroots level to track healthcare funding and ensure everyone who is eligible takes advantage of the care. Through the community champions’ efforts, 32,000 low-income and vulnerable individuals have been enrolled in the program.