ABOUT US

Healthy Contra Costa (HCC), formerly known as Healthy Richmond, convenes youth and resident leaders, community-based organizations, systems leaders, in the initiative to collectively advocate for policy changes to increase health equity and racial justice in the community. Healthy Contra Costa staff provide resources and opportunities for our partners to build their advocacy capacity and support them in keeping resident power building at the center of our advocacy actions. And it’s working. Our policy Campaign Teams and other partners are banding together to take action on our priority issues, economic justice, healthcare access for the most vulnerable populations, education equity, and & criminal punishment system reform.

Our wins over the last 14 years include, but not limited to: a successful #OneContraCosta campaign that resulted in the county adoption and expansion of CC Cares – a healthcare program for immigrant adults; the People not Prisons campaign at the inception of the initiative prevented 2 jail expansions, and helped create the Re-Entry Success Center; the Services not Cells campaign led by the CCC Racial Justice Coalition successfully advocated for the County Racial Justice Task Force which is now the Racial Justice Oversight Board and supported efforts to reduce financial burdens on justice impacted youth and families by eliminating the Juvenile Fines and Fees and Sealing Fee; The City of Richmond’s Health in all Policies framework has ensured that city resources are aligned with and advance health equity goals; the Invest in Youth Coalition led by the RYSE Center launched the #Kids First Richmond campaign that resulted in the formation of a City Department of Children and Youth and a dedicated fund for youth; the Raise Up Richmond coalition mobilized residents the engage with UC Berkeley to negotiate a set of Community Benefits Agreement; ACCE and Safe Return Project led efforts to increase justice promoting investments in affordable housing by supporting rent control & fair chance ordinances, and conducting community forums addressing displacement and gentrification; The North Richmond Resident Leadership Team and Leadership Circle designed the Quality of Life Plan that will guide community development and youth/education efforts over the next 10 years; and finally the Local Control campaign prioritized barriers for education equity and supported parents to advocate on annual policy and funding recommendations that resulted in more resources for support for African American parent engagement, foster care youth, the full service community.

Where are we now in 2024,

Healthy Contra Costa (HCC) (formerly known as Healthy Richmond) is

  • Building local leadership and capacity by engaging residents of our community and creating pathways to systems decision making spaces. Infusing new leadership into our policy advocacy campaigns to support the active participation of the community in a collaborative process of building local leadership and capacity to disrupt institutional racism and collectively build toward greater racial equity
  • Refining the HCC campaigns and strengthening the partnerships with local political and community leaders
  • Launching our NEW Healthy Contra Costa website and logo in April 2024 that will enable interactive spaces and integrate social media as a way to involve the broader Contra Costa community
  • Initiating a series of Policy Institute training sessions with residents to uplift their expertise and share information about how to engage in policy advocacy activities within their local city, county and school districts
  • HCC aligned its work with the launch of the County’s new Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice and will continue to support the Office’s Co-Directors as they design a Lived Experience Advisory Board and strategy to engage residents countywide
  • HCC aligns and coordinates its work with many community coalitions such as: Ensuring Opportunities’ Budget Justice Coalition, East CC Community Alliance (ECCCA), CC Immigrants Rights Alliance (CCIRA), Reimagine Richmond & CC, Safe Return Project’s Invest in Youth Coalition, and the CC Racial Justice Coalition, and Health Access CA
  • HCC is committed to centering resident voice and leadership to realize our vision to demand equity in education, economic justice, health4all, and elimination of institutional racism.
If you would like more information on Healthy Contra Costa…

Vision

Healthy Contra Costa envisions a transformed community where resident leaders, CBOs and system leaders work together to demand equity in education, economy, healthcare and safety in communities to increase race equity and eliminate racism

Purpose

To strengthen accountability across the county and increase economies of scale for organizational partners by bridging relationships with systems and investing in resident leadership development pathways to engage cross-sector and county-wide issues

HCC Backbone

Convener/Process Designer, Policy Developer, Organizational Capacity-Builder, Resident Leadership Trainer and Pathway Builder, Trust-Builder/Mediator

Horizon

A demonstration of collective impact and power-building for public systems change – rooted in Richmond – that centers residents and young people to advance healing and the elimination of anti-Black racism across Contra Costa County

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