Center offers services throughout California as well as a conference center in L.A.. The opening earlier this month of Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) is a nice example of philanthropy in action. The California Endowment-funded, CHC is expected to help mobilize community and civic leaders, administration officials and healthcare providers to examine more critically the health issues that face the state.

The CHC “represents a new model for collectively addressing and creating solutions to the myriad of health issues facing Californians today,” says Cynthia Ann Telles, board chair of the California Endowment. “Our hope is that the [CHC] will engage leaders from throughout California to work together to improve the health of our underserved communities.”

The California Endowment developed the CHC after discussions with focus groups and non-profit organizations throughout California. Those talks disclosed the lack of a central forum to help organizations collaborate on health-related issues.

The CHC is housed in the California Endowment’s new headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

The CHC provides free conference resources and programs “designed to build coalitions, engage communities, strengthen nonprofit groups, and exchange knowledge and information,” according to a press release.

“Los Angeles is home to many of the state's most complex health issues,” says Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “It is fitting that the California Endowment has chosen L.A. as the home for the [CHC].”

The California Endowment is a private health foundation dedicated to expanding access to affordable, quality health care to underserved communities, and promoting fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. –FWR

.