The CDC Foundation’s Largest Grant Targets California’s Minority Populations

The CDC Foundation has received a grant of $9.3 million from The California Endowment to support two programs to improve the health of minority populations in California. The grant is the CDC Foundation’s largest award in its six years of operation.

The two programs are part of REACH 2010 (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) - a national demonstration project managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The project was designed to learn how health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups can be reduced through community-based strategies. Phase I of the project, which began in 1999, offered one-year planning grants for community groups to develop specific approaches for reducing disparities in health in six priority areas: infant mortality, deficits in breast and cervical cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and HIV/AIDS. In Phase I, four programs in California were awarded planning grants from CDC. Three additional California programs were funded by The California Endowment through a grant to the CDC Foundation. Recently, two of these three programs were selected for Phase II funding, enabling them to implement their plans over the next four years with technical assistance from CDC and administrative oversight from the CDC Foundation.

“This grant is extremely important, not only because it is our largest to date, but also because it represents a significant new model for partnerships with CDC and the CDC Foundation,” says C. Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “The opportunity to extend CDC programs with local funding is one that we hope to use with regional foundations for additional CDC health initiatives.”

The two Phase II programs funded by The California Endowment include:

• Promoting Access to Health (PATH) for Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander Women (Special Service for Groups): a program to increase breast and cervical cancer screenings for Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander women in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
• Closing the Gap for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Among African Americans “Project Sweet Heart” (The California Black Health Network): a project that aims to improve African Americans’ understanding of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The program targets populations in San Diego counties.

“These two programs exemplify The Endowment’s commitment to reducing disparities by improving access and health care delivery to diverse populations throughout the state. Our partnership with CDC is an important component of this strategy,” says Robert K. Ross, M.D., president and CEO of The California Endowment.