Richmond

Background

The Richmond Building Healthy Communities site—also known as Healthy Richmond—is home to over 46,000 residents living in Central, Southern, and North Richmond neighborhoods. While this urban community has long struggled with high unemployment, low educational attainment, and environmental injustices, its deep history of activism, rich diversity, and strong spirit of resilience underscores an appetite for progressive innovation. Healthy Richmond is bringing together youth and adult residents, as well as community and civic organizations to create hope and opportunity for children, youth, and families.

Richmond Community

Quick Facts

• 25 percent of the population is under 18 years of age.
• Over 30 percent of residents are foreign-born.
• The City of Richmond was an early adopter of a comprehensive health and wellness element as part of its General Plan.
• Download more background information and quick facts about Richmond. 

Focus Areas

Residents and partners in Healthy Richmond are driving change across many systems and issues. The map below gives a snapshot of the breadth of their actions (click the boxes under each category to learn more), followed by more information on the top four priorities for the coming year.

• Healthcare for All: Healthy Richmond is expanding health care options for all city residents, regardless of immigration status.  Additionally, Healthy Richmond is connecting eligible residents to new health care options under the Affordable Care Act. Click here to read more about the partners engaged in this work or join the action team making health happen in Richmond.
• Safe  Homes and Communities: Healthy Richmond’s work includes redirecting limited public dollars to violence prevention and restorative justice rather than incarceration. Community members, law enforcement, and local organizations are working smarter on crime and the result is one of the steepest drops in crime rates anywhere in the country—we’re at a 33-year low. Click here to read more about the partners engaged in this work.
• Vibrant, Healthy Schools & Neighborhoods: Healthy Richmond promotes access to high quality community schools and neighborhoods with access to safe places to play, healthy food options, and clean air. Healthy Richmond partners are working with the City to implement its Health and Wellness Element to its General Plan. Efforts are underway all over the city to turn public spaces into safe, healthy, and stimulating places for children to play and learn. Click here to read more about the partners engaged in this work.
• Healthy Economic Revitalization: Healthy Richmond’s economic revitalization efforts and successes include working to ensure that existing Richmond residents will benefit from the proposed Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay. While the expansion presents a tremendous economic opportunity for area residents, it also places the majority low-income renter community at risk of displacement. Healthy Richmond is supporting community efforts to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement. Click here to read more about the partners engaged in this work.

Learn More

• Healthy Richmond’s Hub Structure 
• Fact Sheet:  Men and Boys of Color and how they are doing when it comes to Prevention, Neighborhoods, and Schools in Richmond  
• Healthy Richmond Support of Full Service Community Schools 
• Report: Anchor Strategy for Berkeley Global Campus 

Get Connected

Diane Aranda
Program Manager, Richmond

Diane Aranda joined The California Endowment in March 2006 and became the Program Manager for Richmond in 2009. Prior to joining The Endowment, Aranda was a program director at the Prevention Institute. Aranda’s experience in philanthropy includes seven years as a program officer for The San Francisco Foundation, and serving as a project manager for the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley. Aranda also served as a project coordinator for the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California. A Bay Area native, Aranda received her bachelors in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, and Masters in Public Affairs with a certificate in Urban and Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.