2026 Grant Recipients
Organizations Making a Difference in Orange County
The HealthCare Foundation for Orange County is honored to recognize our 2026 Grantee Recipients and highlight their important work.
Each organization selected is creating a lasting, positive impact on the health of the most underserved women and children in our community and we are proud to support their efforts.
Hospitals
CHOC Foundation – School Reintegration Program
CHOC’s School Reintegration Program supports students returning to school after a mental health crisis or hospitalization. In collaboration with inpatient, emergency, and crisis services, the program ensures safety planning and appropriate academic and social accommodations. Serving primarily youth ages 5–18, the program helps students feel prepared and confident as they transition back into the classroom.
Hoag Memorial Hospital – Nurturing Minds, Nourishing Hearts
Nurturing Minds, Nourishing Hearts is a partnership between Hoag Memorial Hospital and MOMS Orange County that strengthens maternal mental health and early childhood development for Medi‑Cal families. Services include screenings, counseling, developmental assessments, and education from pregnancy through early childhood. In 2025, Infant Development Education classes reached 460 infants and families, supporting the program’s goal of serving 1,500 women and infants.
Providence St. Joseph Hospital Orange – Maternal Mental Health
Maternal mental health continues to be a national crisis. Maternal deaths in the U.S. doubled between 1999 and 2019, with the CDC identifying mental health conditions—including suicide and substance use disorder—as leading causes. During the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety among pregnant women also doubled. Against this backdrop, our program provided critical, life-affirming support in 2025 alone, with 487 new mothers beginning treatment, 1,353 individual sessions conducted with mothers and their babies, and 1,699 follow-up calls to ensure continued care and connection.
St. Jude Medical Center & Illumination Foundation – Empowering Children to Rise Out of Homelessness
St. Jude Medical Center partners with Illumination Foundation to support children and families experiencing homelessness in Orange County through the Illumination Health + Home model. The program delivers integrated health, mental health, and academic services within shelter settings using a multidisciplinary care team. Serving approximately 300 individuals annually, the program supported 94 families (344 individuals) in 2025, with 50% of exiting families securing permanent housing.
St. Jude Medical Center Foundation & Western Youth Services – One Door, Any Door® Access Coordination
Providence St. Jude partners with Western Youth Services to deliver the One Door Any Door® Access Coordination Program to increase timely access to mental health and supportive services for children, youth, and families across Orange County. The program primarily supports families—especially mothers—in Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, and Tustin who face barriers navigating behavioral health systems. Access Coordinators provide immediate, trauma informed assistance through screening, triage, short term skill building, and holistic assessment of social determinants such as housing, transportation, and financial stability. In 2026, Access Coordinators will provide person-centered navigation and linkage services to 440 unduplicated individuals across Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana, and Tustin. The partnership has demonstrated strong success in previous years, having consistently exceeded targets and earning near universal positive feedback from participants.
The Regents of the University of California – Irvine LINK for Equity
UCI Wen Public Health’s LINK for Equity is a culturally responsive, school‑based trauma‑informed program designed to reduce trauma symptoms in children. LINK equips school staff with skills in cultural humility, motivational interviewing, and psychological first aid. Following adaptation for Samueli Charter School and Project Vietnam, the program conducted focus groups and Photovoice projects and began co‑creating parent modules focused on trauma education, advocacy, and communication.
Community-Based Organizations
Beyond Blindness – Care Coordination & Referral Services
Beyond Blindness provides individualized care coordination for children and youth ages 0–22 with visual impairments and additional disabilities. Staff guide families through complex medical, developmental, and educational systems, connecting them to essential services and reducing barriers to care.
Casa Teresa – Care Without Barriers
Casa Teresa’s Care Without Barriers program provides emergency maternity shelter and healthcare access for pregnant women facing delays in Medi‑Cal enrollment. In 2025, the program served 22 women who otherwise would have waited months for coverage.
Community Health Initiative of Orange County (CHIOC) – Community Health Access
CHIOC’s Community Health Access Program expands access to healthcare coverage and safety‑net services for underserved Orange County residents. Through bilingual, community‑based assistance, CHIOC helps individuals enroll in and effectively use programs such as Medi‑Cal, Covered California, Medicare, CalFresh, and CalWORKS.
Human Options – Mental Health Services for Survivors
Human Options provides trauma‑informed counseling for survivors of domestic violence across Orange County. The program aims to reduce anxiety and depression while increasing resilience, with expanded walk‑in access and strengthened community partnerships to ensure timely, culturally responsive care.
Latino Health Access – Empower OC
Latino Health Access’s Empower OC program addresses chronic disease and mental health disparities in Latine communities through culturally concordant, Promotor‑led education and services. Topics include nutrition, physical activity, diabetes prevention, mental health stressors, stigma reduction, and comorbidity management.
Mary’s Path – Trauma Informed Professional Development
Mary’s Path’s three‑year trauma‑informed training initiative builds organizational capacity to deliver consistent, high‑quality care for teen mothers. The program supplements required training with workshops, coaching, retreats, and train‑the‑trainer models for staff and clinicians.
MOMS Orange County – Group Infant Development Education
MOMS Orange County supports healthy early development through weekly group classes for infants ages 3–18 months. Serving more than 500 children annually—primarily from low‑income families—the program reports strong outcomes, with 80% course completion and 90% of infants meeting developmental milestones.
Orange County United Way – Family Solutions Collaborative
United to End Homelessness leads coordinated, system‑level efforts to end family homelessness in Orange County. Through the Family Homelessness Response System, the program strengthens collaboration across schools, shelters, healthcare providers, and public agencies to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non‑recurring for families.
Share Ourselves (SOS) – Population Health Screenings
Share Ourselves is expanding preventive health screenings for underserved women and children in Santa Ana. The program increases access to breast, cervical, and lead screenings while coordinating follow‑ups and referrals to ensure timely, comprehensive care.
