Episcopal Charities

Healthcare

• About half of the bankruptcy filings in the United States are due to medical expenses. (Health Affairs Journal 2005)
• Health insurance costs increased 30% from 2001 to 2005, while income for the same period only increased 3%. (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
• The highest rate of underinsurance is in families with incomes under the poverty level (about $20,000), at 31%. (Commonwealth Fund, Health Affairs Journal)

In California, both healthcare costs and the poverty rate have been steadily increasing. Considering these sobering statistics, the direct connection between healthcare and poverty is more than evident. We must work to address the root causes of these issues, so that future generations are not haunted by this same stark reality. Episcopal Charities' Action Networks is working hard to support agencies that are bringing about lasting change, so that access to healthcare will no longer be the exception, but rather the norm.

Current Project Partners

Options Recovery Services has celebrated over 10 years of dedicated service to their clients, helping to break the cycle of crime, broken families, and homelessness caused by addiction. Their programs are built around intensive case management of hard-core addicts and alcoholics through substance abuse treatment, into employment, housing, and a meaningful life.

For nearly a full year, our Healthcare Action Network has been working with Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, in San Francisco's Mission District, in their Pre-to-Three project. This collaborative project (The Homeless Prenatal Program, The Nurse-Midwives of San Francisco General Hospital, Family Health Care at SF General, and The UCSF Infant-Parent Program) addresses pre-natal healthcare and education issues with at-risk women and their infant children. The economic downturn has affected all of the collaborators, not to mention the women and children they serve, and this first year has been a study in creating order out of chaos. Our Action Network volunteers continue providing management consulting, streamlining information transfer, and materials construction. A more concentrated focus on the Centering Pregnancy component during the second year of the project may provide even more opportunities for Action Network member volunteers.

Family Service Agency of San Francisco

Family Service Agency of San Francisco was founded in 1889. It is currently San Francisco's largest provider of outpatient case management and social services, serving 12,000 individuals annually, of all ages, from all San Francisco neighborhoods, in eleven languages. FSA has a budget of $13 million and 250 employees. In addition to being a significant research and training center, FSA provides a vast array of services, supports, and treatments daily to San Francisco's most vulnerable residents.

CLICK HERE to read more about FSASF and UCSF's partnership: Prevention and Recovery from Early Psychosis (PREP).

Street Level Health Project, in Oakland, was founded in 2002 by two pre-med students from Mills College. During the early years, Street Level was comprised of an all volunteer staff from the Community Health Nurses of Alameda County Public Health Department and pre-med students from local colleges and universities (e.g., Mills College, Samuel Merritt). These dedicated volunteers offered health screening and acute care to the most marginalized, underserved individuals in Alameda County, including persons who were homeless, uninsured, or recent immigrants.

Street Level is one of the only organizations serving as the entry point to the health care system for medically-uninsured immigrants in Alameda County. Community-based health clinics and hospital emergency rooms are important institutions that provide health care for the medically uninsured. Unfortunately, many recently arrived immigrants are hesitant to enter these safety net providers because of various barriers and challenges. Street Level is a critical missing link in the health care delivery model for medically uninsured immigrants, providing access to health care for all individuals and empowering individuals to navigate the health care system, thus minimizing these barriers.

Healthy Communities (DBA Healthy Oakland) is a faith-based non-profit organization co-founded by Pastor Raymond E. Lankford, MSW and Bishop E. C. Reems-Dickerson as a result of escalating violence and health disparities in African-American communities in Oakland. After providing health screenings on a mobile health van throughout the Bay Area for two and a half years, Healthy Oakland opened a Family Resource and Save A Life Wellness Center to provide more comprehensive services and case management to at-risk individuals and families.