Advancing the Redwood Region RISE Initiatives | | |
July 2025 RRRISE Newsletter
Investing in People. Growing Community. Advancing Health & Caregiving.
Latest Updates from the Redwood Region RISE Collaborative
| |
🌟 Spotlight: Redwood Region RISE Health & Caregiving Activation Plan
We’re excited to announce the release of the Redwood Region RISE Health & Caregiving Activation Plan! Developed by NCHIIN with valuable input from our Advisory Council and partners across the Redwood Region, this plan offers a practical, community-driven roadmap to strengthen the health and caregiving sectors in our region.
What’s inside?
- Strategies to build and support a thriving health and caregiving workforce
- Investments in training, career pathways, and high-quality jobs
- Expanding care infrastructure to meet local needs
- Collaborations to improve services for all communities, including rural and tribal residents
By working together, we can advance sustainable, culturally responsive, and equitable health and caregiving systems across our counties. Interested in partnering or sharing ideas? Contact us — we’d love to hear from you!
| | |
💸 Grant Watch: Summer Funding Rounds to Know About
If your organization serves Indigenous communities, supports community-defined care, or builds health infrastructure — summer 2025 offers key funding opportunities:
🔹 Indigenous Tomorrows Fund (Deadline: July 18) For projects focused on food justice, healing across generations, and community wellness.
🔹 Borealis Racial Equity Fund (Deadline: July 24) For changemakers — doulas, CHWs, and disability justice leaders — who expand access to culturally grounded, community-defined health care.
🔹 Bond BHCIP Round 2 (PAC Deadline: Aug 29)
$800M statewide in behavioral health infrastructure funding — don’t miss your required pre-application consult!
👉 Need Help Applying? Reach out to RISE for technical assistance, partnership ideas, and proposal review support.
| | |
Tell Your Story
Attract Project Partners & Funders
This simple, step-by-step template helps you clearly communicate your project’s purpose, impacts, and funding needs to community leaders, partners, and potential funders. Within the 2-page summary, you’ll highlight the problem your project solves, who it serves, how it works, and why it matters — all in a format designed to build collaboration and attract investment.
How to get started:
✅ Download the template
✅ Complete your project details using the built-in prompts
✅ Customize with your logo and visuals
✅ Save and share as a polished one-page or presentation-ready
PDF
With this tool, you’ll be ready to tell a compelling story that grows support for your project and connects you with aligned initiatives across the Redwood Region.
| | |
Redwood Region RISE
Inclusive Language: Creating Equity Through Our Words
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes.” The Redwood Region RISE, is committed to using language that is respectful, people-first, asset-based, and non-stigmatizing. By being intentional with our words, we help build a more equitable, inclusive community.
Together, let’s use language that uplifts, respects, and truly centers equity.
| | 📣 Health Workforce Updates | |
Workforce Spotlight: Big Investments, Bold Programs
July marks the launch of a wave of Behavioral Health workforce programs from DHCS and HCAI aimed at rural and underserved areas. Whether you’re training the next peer support specialist or expanding your BH team — now’s the time to act:
California’s Workforce Stability Standards: A Rural Opportunity
In June 2024, California’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) released new Workforce Stability Standards designed to protect and strengthen the healthcare workforce—especially in rural and underserved regions—as the state works to control health care costs.
The Six Pillars of Workforce Stability
- Track Key Workforce Indicators
- Adaptive Policies
- Invest in Learning & Growth
- Increase Interdisciplinary Teams
- Prioritize Cultural & Linguistic Competence
- Ensure Workplace Safety
By leaning into this statewide framework, we can build a resilient, community-rooted workforce that reflects and serves our diverse population with cultural humility and care.
| | Chart Your Pathway to a Health Career | | |
Redwood Region RISE is proud to spotlight an exciting effort to develop innovative and collaborative Health Pathways Diagrams that guide students, jobseekers, and career-changers on their journey toward high-road, high-demand roles in healthcare and caregiving.
These visual roadmaps break down complex career steps into clear, actionable pathways — showing learners how to move from education and training all the way to sustainable, meaningful employment in our region’s vital health sectors.
| |  | | |
California & Federal Budgets &
What It Means for Rural Health
California’s 2025–26 state budget and the federal budget reconciliation bill have major implications for healthcare across rural and tribal communities.
California’s recently passed 2025–26 budget offers a mixed bag for rural and underserved communities. On the bright side, the Protect Access to Health Care Act of 2025 Prop 35 Spending Plan directs critical funds to improve behavioral health access and infrastructure — an opportunity for Redwood Region RISE to align our regional plans and tap into new state resources.
On the federal front, H.R. 1, "the One Big Beautiful Bill" will significantly reduce funding for Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and other essential safety net programs. These cuts jeopardize core services that support the health, food security, and economic stability of millions—including rural families, older adults, and tribal nations. However, the federal legislation does include a rural health relief fund - the Rural Health Transformation Program.
We'll continue to keep a pulse on the implementation of these program changes, so we can work collectively to support our sector and the clients we serve.
| | |
State Budget Impact Articles:
| | |
Federal Budget Impact Articles:
| | |
Telehealth Innovations:
Virtual Models Gain Ground
What if nursing care didn’t start at the hospital bedside, but in your living room — virtually? Health systems are pioneering virtual nursing models that are scalable, cost-effective, and community-centered. Meanwhile, new health economic research confirms what many rural providers already know: at-home acute care models not only reduce hospital costs, they also increase patient satisfaction and access.
📆 Attend the Webinar: “From Complexity to Clarity” – Mapping Virtual Nursing for Change, July 31, 1-2 PM ET. REGISTER NOW
🌐 The Future is Now: In our remote, dispersed communities, embracing Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM), virtual care, and hospital-at-home could dramatically shift how and where care happens — closing access gaps and keeping patients safe and supported.
| | |
In the News
Primary Care Crisis: Are We Closing the Gap?
Six years after California sounded the alarm on its projected 4,100-provider shortfall by 2030, the primary care workforce remains critically underbuilt according to a recent LA Times article. Despite progress — like new residencies and expanded roles for NPs — shortages continue, especially in rural areas like ours. Thankfully, the Redwood Region is already taking action.
🩺Action Steps Throughout the Redwood Region to Help:
- Local high schools launching healthcare & patient care pathways
- Nurse practitioners stepping into independent practice roles
- Incubate & Home in Humboldt programs work to keep local talent
- Medical provider training & residencies expand rural workforce
- Telehealth offers an avenue to primary care and specialty access
📣 Let’s Keep the Momentum: With continued investment, regional collaboration, and upstream pathway development, we can build the workforce and systems we need — right here at home.
“Shared Stories of Caregiving” Campaign
Keet TV is collecting stories about caregiving: what it means, how it feels, and why it matters. Your story can help others feel less alone, celebrate the joys and challenges of caregiving, and build understanding across our community.
| | | | |
