The California Endowment

Community Health and Elimination of Health Disparities

Our goal in this area is to build healthy communities by improving the social and physical environments that shape health behaviors and outcomes.

By focusing on social and physical environments we aim to prevent disease and injury and eliminate conditions that lead to health disparities. Under this goal we fund proposals that seek to provide the knowledge and skills to change unhealthy behaviors and to change the social and physical environments that contribute to those unhealthy behaviors. The focus of this goal is to change policies and systems to support health-promoting environments. The focus is also to identify a health disparity and implement activities that will contribute to reducing the disparity.

Physical Activity / Physical Education Reports: Accelerating School Activity Promotion

Childhood obesity is a rapidly growing problem, with low-income and some racial/ethnic minority populations at particularly high risk. Increased physical activity is an essential part of the solution. The California Endowment supported ASAP (Accelerating School Activity Promotion) to identify opportunities, effective strategies, and models for improving physical education and other physical activity programs in schools, with an emphasis on solutions for schools in disadvantaged communities. (Continued)

Video Series: Where Do I Get My Five?

Created in 2007-08, the video series, Where Do I Get My Five? focuses on the challenges of finding healthy food in South Los Angeles. The project is a collaboration between seven students from The Accelerated School's Wallis Annenberg High School, the South L.A. Healthy Eating, Active Communities initiative and Public Matters.

The video series is also available for viewing at the Food Fight! exhibit at the Big Sur Education Gallery of The California Endowment. The Food Fight! exhibit runs through Oct. 25. Hours are: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Regional Offices of The California Endowment

The California Endowment maintains a regional approach to grant making and has offices throughout the state. With this commitment to a regional presence, The Endowment has program staff actively working in local communities to identify, support and partner with community-based organizations.