Central Valley Health Policy Institute
Social Policy & Analysis
Highlights & Features
Please review our climate work in the San Joaquin Valley. We aim to raise awareness about the importance of taking action to mitigate the effects of climate change.
November 2023: a four-part webinar series highlighting stories of building civic engagement from the ground up that has made lasting change in the Central Valley.
The goal of the Central Valley Housing Data Repository is to build a centralized way to engage community that helps facilitate research and learning.
Climate Change Work
The San Joaquin Valley (SJV), located in central California, known for its rich agricultural
history, faces significant challenges due to climate change. The effects on this region
are becoming more pronounced, with rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and increased
air pollution impacting both the environment and the health of the community.
According to the Climate Change in the San Joaquin Valley Report, community members in the SJV are primarily concerned with climate change matters
involving water quality, water supply, flooding, economy, and air quality. As we collaborate
with communities to learn of their concerns and improve climate change policy, CVHPI
With our climate work we aims to raise awareness about the importance of taking action
to mitigate the effects of climate change to move towards a healthier, more sustainable
future for the San Joaquin Valley and beyond.
HPLP 2023-2024: Climate Change and Public Health Intersections Cohort
Climate change funding impacts for the Central Valley
The Central Valley Health Policy Institute’s Grant Dashboard will inform community-based organizations (CBOs) about grant funding that is or may become available to support climate efforts throughout the Central Valley for future generations to enjoy.
The effects of climate change have been shown to negatively impact the San Joaquin Valley. Thus, it is important to understand the overall knowledge, beliefs, and opinions on climate change of Fresno County to inform policymakers. The objective of this study was to understand the knowledge, beliefs, and opinions toward climate change that Fresno County residents hold.
San Joaquin Valley Climate Change Infographic
This infographic showcases that San Joaquin Valley and California have experienced a temperature rise of 3 degrees Fahrenheit from 1949 to 2014. This led to more extreme-heat events that may lead to permanent disability or death.
Federal Investments in Climate Change 2023 - 2024: Empowering Communities for a Sustainable Future
In the United States, climate change has resulted in drastic weather conditions that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, such as non-Hispanic Black residents and farmworkers. Given these challenges, funding has been allocated toward environmental justice (EJ) strategies to protect vulnerable populations. As experts in community outreach and advocacy, local CBOs can play a large role in promoting and achieving these EJ goals. The objective of this report is to highlight funding opportunities that local CBOs can engage with in addressing local climate concerns.
Investigating Air Pollution and Breast Cancer Mortality in California
This brief examines the potential geographic association between air pollution and
breast cancer mortality rates by women aged 45-64 and 65-85+ in California at the
zip code level. Thus the brief hopes to inform policymakers, healthcare professionals,
and community members on the
geographical disparities present in breast cancer mortality and risk factors that
can be targeted to produce policy changes.
A Decade of Power Building
The four-part webinar series A Decade of Power Building, held throughout November 2023. This series is focused on the work of Fresno Building Healthy Communities and Building Healthy Communities Merced, both of which share a history as sites in the The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative. These webinars consist of four case study presentations that look at leadership development and power building leading up to and throughout the 2010-2020 place-based initiative, and how this work impacted leaders, built power, and even shaped the development of Fresno County’s pandemic response.
Please see the tabs below for presentation dates, details and event information.
The Right to Fair and Healthy Housing: How CBOs are Leading the Fight for Housing Security in Fresno
Through power building in Fresno around affordable housing and housing-related policies, Fresno BHC has amplified adult and youth residents’ voices, working to increase community inclusion in decision-making at public and private levels. See presentation slides from our November 2nd case study webinar.
Case Study Presentation: The Right to Fair and Healthy Housing: How CBOs are Leading the Fight for Housing Security in Fresno
Cultivating Connections: Leadership and Power Building for Merced School Equity
Over the past decade, Building Healthy Communities (BHC) Merced efforts included providing a platform for residents and youth to make a difference in local schools. This case study focuses on the school advocacy and community organizing work that increased equity in Merced schools for students and parents through the development of people power and power building. See presentation slides from our November 9th case study webinar.
Case Study Presentation: Cultivating Connections: Leadership and Power Building for Merced School Equity
Meeting the Moment: How CBOs Led the COVID-19 Response in Fresno County
This case study focuses on three health equity leaders who have been involved with Fresno Building Healthy Communities (Fresno BHC) Coalition in Fresno county and who helped develop the Immigrant and Refugee Coalition’s (IRC) COVID-19 Equity Project (CEP) and the efforts of their coalition in developing and obtaining funding and support for an equity-based community health worker (CHW) model. See presentation slides from our November 16th case study webinar.
Case Study Presentation: Meeting the Moment: How CBOs Led the COVID-19 Response in Fresno County
Mil Hojas (A Thousand Layers): Leadership and Power Building for Park Equity
Through resident and youth outreach, the Fresno BHC Coalition helped to lead Fresno’s park equity efforts through the #Parks4All campaign and securing the realization and implementation of Measure P, a tax measure to fund Fresno parks. This presentation highlights how residents emerged as leaders in ushering in a historic change to how the City prioritizes park and greenspace equity in Fresno. See presentation slides from our November 30th case study webinar.
Case Study Presentation: Mil Hojas (A Thousand Layers): Leadership and Power Building for Park Equity
Central Valley Housing Data Repository
Housing is related to many other social issues facing our Central Valley region. In 2017, Fresno State hosted a conference where community members working on housing prioritized the need for a place to find local data and a way to help them interpret it to help tell their stories and make change. If we can understand the pressure levers and solutions to housing issues, this will help us understand many other issues. For example: preterm birth focus groups revealed that people were most concerned with housing on many levels: from neighbors smoking around pregnant women, being afraid of complaining about health hazards to landlords, stress of rising costs, to neighborhood walkability.
The goal of the Central Valley Housing Data Repository is to build a centralized way to engage community that helps facilitate research and learning.
We do this through three strategies:
- Partner with Community Organizations engaged in Fair Housing Action
- Provide Active Learning Experiences for Students through Partnerships
- Draw on Repository for High-Impact Teaching Practices
This is a 5-year funded project with the support of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with funding from The California Endowment.
To access the Central Valley Housing Data Repository, please click here.
Unequal Neighborhoods: Merced
November 2024
Merced is ranked among the poorest in many regards, poor air quality, lack of employment, poor health, low education and poverty. Decades of policies and neglect have created these conditions, but not for all. While some neighborhoods experienced neglect, other neighborhoods had opportunities created for them through forward-thinking vision and policies.
Click here to view project
Food Security and Health
May 2024
This study aimed to understand the geospatial association between food deserts, transportation,
and hypertension prevalence in California at the census tract level. Findings revealed
that communities in food deserts without adequate transportation were at a significantly
higher risk of hypertension, highlighting the importance of addressing both food access
and transportation infrastructure to mitigate hypertension prevalence.
Click here to view project
Unequal Neighborhoods: Fresno
August 2018
While Fresno is ranked among the poorest in many regards, many have perceived this be the overall plagues of the city: low air quality, little green space, poor health, low education and poverty. Decades of policies and neglect have created these conditions, but not for all. While some neighborhoods experienced neglect, other neighborhoods had opportunities created for them through forward-thinking vision and policies.
Click here to view the project.