Los Angeles, CA, August 15, 2024 — California has the largest population of people experiencing homelessness in the country with well over 171K people living on the streets. To address this crisis, Dignity Health, a member of CommonSpirit Health, has a Homeless Health Initiative which has announced nearly $900,000 in awards to four community-based organizations (CBOs) across California. This funding is designed to support CBOs and align with the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) program. The funding will boost the capacity and infrastructure of homeless service agencies, enabling them to better collaborate with managed Medi-Cal providers, and other organizations within their communities.

The grant funding process was led by Dignity Health’s internal Research & Equity Advisory Council for Housing Insecurities (REACHI), which focuses on finding solutions to the pervasive homeless crisis in the state of California. This council is made up of individuals who themselves experienced homelessness and understand the unique challenges and needs of those facing housing instability. This council is helping to guide the strategy of Dignity Health’s Homeless Health Initiative. The council’s goal is to share decision-making power to better understand and address the needs of homeless individuals living in our communities.

“CommonSpirit is unwavering in its commitment to supporting our unhoused community members and partnering with our CBOs, who are vital to driving positive change,” shares Julie J. Sprengel, California Region President, CommonSpirit Health. “By understanding real-life experiences, we can more effectively address the needs of homeless individuals in our communities, ensuring our solutions are not only meaningful but transformative.” Grantees include:

● Healthcare in Action of San Mateo County – Healthcare in Action (HIA) is dedicated to providing comprehensive healthcare and support services to the unhoused in California through a street medicine model. HIA plans to utilize the grant funding to hire and train community health workers, particularly individuals with lived experience of
homelessness, to effectively engage and support this vulnerable population and enhance the infrastructure.

● Downtown Women’s Center of Los Angeles County – Downtown Women’s Center (DWC) provides a wide array of resources to decrease barriers and end homelessness for all women. DWC plans to utilize the grant funding to address gaps in data tracking and integrate support positions for Cal-AIM services.

● Sierra HOPE of Calaveras County – Sierra HOPE is the largest non-profit housing/homeless organization in Calaveras County and operates an array of programs including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, transitional housing, and supportive services. Sierra Hope plans to utilize the grant funding to launch two new interventions,1) A street health/street medicine program and 2) Interim housing beds for Medi-Cal members discharging from the hospital.

● Mercy House in Kern County – Mercy House Living Centers’ provides a unique system of dignified housing opportunities, programs, and supportive services. Mercy House plans to utilize the grant funding to support a number of initial infrastructure and program development costs before achieving sustainability under the pay-for-service model of reimbursement that Cal AIM provides.

For more information about CommonSpirit’s efforts to address homelessness and REACHI, please contact Ashley Brand, System Director, Community Health, Integration & Housing at ashley.brand@commonspirit.org

About Dignity Health Dignity Health is a multi-state nonprofit network of 10,000 physicians, more than 60,000 employees, 39 acute care hospitals, and 400-plus care-centers, including community hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. Dignity Health is a part of CommonSpirit Health, a nonprofit health system committed to advancing health for all people and dedicated to serving the common good. For more information, please visit our website at www.DignityHealth.org .

About CommonSpirit Health CommonSpirit Health is a nonprofit, Catholic health system dedicated to advancing health for all people. It was created in February 2019 by Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health. With its national office in Chicago and a team of over 175,000 employees and 25,000 physicians and advanced practice clinicians, CommonSpirit operates 142 hospitals and more than 2,200 care sites across 24 states. In FY 2023, CommonSpirit had revenues of $34.6 billion and provided $5 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unreimbursed government programs. Learn more at www.commonspirit.org .