REDDING, Calif. (April 23, 2026) – Dignity Health announced today it has awarded $520,050 in philanthropic grants to non-profit organizations across Shasta, Tehama, Siskiyou, and Nevada counties. These grants, part of the broader CommonSpirit Health Community Health Improvement Grants program, are specifically designed to address pressing health disparities and enhance the health and well-being of vulnerable and underserved populations within the North State region.
"Building a truly healthy community requires a collaborative effort, and these grants are a sincere demonstration of Dignity Health North State’s dedication to that principle,” said Rodger Page, Dignity Health North State Market President. “We’ve long recognized that improving and maintaining health extends beyond the care we provide in our hospitals and clinics. By investing in these critical services delivered by our non-profit partners, we’re empowering individuals and families to access the support they need, ensuring our North State community can not only heal but also thrive.”
The grant program directly supports initiatives that improve community health, advance health equity, and enhance vital local services through targeted charitable contributions. Collaborating 501(c)3 non-profit organizations applied to receive grant funds to address significant issues identified in the hospitals’ community health needs assessments, including:
- Improving access to primary health care, specialty care, and dental health care
- Access to behavioral health, including substance use disorder treatment
- Basic needs: education, housing, transportation, and food insecurity
- Community belonging
- Violence prevention
- Navigation of care
“It is an honor to help administer these Community Health Improvement Grants,” added Alexis Ross, Dignity Health North State Director of Community Health. “Through these grants, Dignity Health demonstrates its mission and dedication to supporting those who need it most. We are only as strong as the communities we serve, and through active local partnerships, we accomplish so much more."
This local initiative by Dignity Health North State is part of a broader commitment by CommonSpirit Health, which awarded a total of $15 million to 329 organizations nationwide.
North State Dignity Health hospitals awarded funding to the following organizations to support program activities between April 2026 and March 2027:
Mercy Medical Center Redding (Redding, Calif.) - $302,000
- Empire Recovery Center: $100,000
- Expanding Outpatient Services to Youth and Families Project - this project will increase access to outpatient treatment for substance use disorder (SUD), and establish a collaborative care model that links prevention, behavioral health, education and evidence-based treatment. The project offers a welcoming client-centered outpatient treatment center and helps people recover from SUD, strengthen resilience, and promote wellness across generations. In partnership with other agencies, service delivery will be by a team of certified SUD counselors and licensed clinicians. In addition to adult outpatient services, the project includes a Youth Wellness Program for youth aged 13-17 who are at risk for SUD, and a Family Engagement Program for family participation and visits.
- First 5 Shasta: $47,000
- Diaper and Wipes Voucher Pilot Project - This project will establish a diaper and wipe voucher pilot program. We know that diapers and wipes are a critical need for the health and well-being of children, and we have seen a large need for assistance with basic needs. There is currently no diaper bank program in Shasta County or other resources that exist to help meet this need. This project will provide monthly support for the diapering needs of low-income families with children ages 0–3 in Shasta County. Each participating family will receive a monthly $35 voucher for diapers and wipes. This is intended to help to alleviate, not fully cover, diaper costs. Bulk pricing will be negotiated with local grocery retailers to maximize value and accessibility. By partnering with several locally owned grocery retailers across the county, we can expand access for rural families to pick up their diapers/wipes and build a partnership with a trusted retailer which creates opportunities for future child and family-focused support efforts.
- Northern California Center for Family Awareness: $35,000
- Kids' Turn Whole-Family Workshops Parental Separation Education - This project will address the need for whole-family divorce education by providing the evidence-based education “Kids’ Turn” workshop program. The program offers three (3), six-week, nine-hour psychoeducational workshops in partnership with Shasta Court and Parsons School. Parents receive information on adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s) and the developmental needs of children and their relation to the divorce process. They work on communication, parenting techniques and conflict resolution skills. In the children's groups they work on identifying, understanding and communicating feelings of anger, frustration, fear, loss and guilt. For most children, Kids’ Turn is the first opportunity they have to freely discuss their family situation and to begin the realization that they are not alone.
- Shasta Community Health Center: $100,000
- Shasta Community Health Center HOPE Transitional Housing - This program allows for the expansion of our medical respite and short-term post hospitalization program, providing emergency shelter for our medically vulnerable clients. Shasta Community Health Center has been approached by a local hotel to enter a Master Lease arrangement that will give us 49 rooms, laundry services and a private office space. This project will provide SCHC HOPE Medical Respite program with one centralized location for their medical respite scattered site model and HOPE patients who are in the short-term post hospitalization program. This will strengthen our ability to meet the shelter needs for unhoused patients recovering from illness or hospitalization. This centralized location will support increased medical and social health goals through increased access to their medical team, a community space for the HOPE consumer advisory board to hold meetings to build community engagement and create a sense of community for patients who are living in a scattered site model to address their health goals. The opportunity to master lease the Sundial Lodge represents a timely and strategic step forward for SCHC in addressing the urgent housing and healthcare needs of unhoused individuals in Redding.
- The Refuge Community: $20,000
- Community Recovery Support & Transitional Employment through Recovery Cafe - The Shift Recovery Cafe Redding is a community of people who have experienced trauma and the results of trauma, such as homelessness, addiction and other mental health challenges, coming to know we are loved and that we have gifts to share. Our programs include: classes to teach skills to manage mental and physical health, maintain sobriety, and build community; ongoing peer support groups to support connection and recovery; and free healthy meals every day we are open. Our model is designed to prevent one life-threatening crisis after another, saving taxpayer money in emergency intervention and allowing mental health professionals to focus on health maintenance and addiction prevention. This project will add a transitional employment program to our wraparound support. Our goal is to help individuals not just gain and maintain sobriety, but to create a bridge to a new, healthier future. Our focus is on supporting Members who are currently in transitional housing or experiencing homelessness and unemployed/underemployed. This program includes a weekly group job skills class, alongside weekly individual job coaching for individualized support.
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital (Red Bluff, Calif.) - $80,450
- Empower Tehama: $40,000
- Victim Support Emergency Services - This project addresses the need for direct victim services among survivors experiencing homelessness due to fleeing domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other underserved/rural communities in Tehama County. It will deliver housing and victim support services to at least 60 individuals and provide prevention and outreach activities to at least 250 people in the South County community. These services will be provided for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking in rural South County communities, including survivors who face barriers related to poverty, transportation, housing insecurity, and geographic isolation. South County survivors have historically lacked access to nearby, consistent victim services and safe housing options, and are often forced to travel long distances to access shelter or advocacy, leaving many without help in times of crisis. The need is to ensure equitable access to survivor-centered advocacy, immediate housing, and long-term safety support within their own community.
- Tehama County Child Abuse Prevention Coordinating Council: $40,450
- Youth Violence Prevention - This project will implement wrap-around services targeting both youth and adults to foster behavior change and build safer, more welcoming communities. The initiative includes a combination of evidence-based and evidence-informed programs. Adults will participate in parenting classes proven to disrupt cycles of violence. A key component is a community-wide campaign, including community outreach, to raise awareness that violence against youth will not be tolerated. Additionaly, the Tehama County Child Abuse Prevention Council will receive specialized training on preventing specific forms of violence within the community. Simultaneously, youth will engage in advocacy efforts promoting messages of respect and unity, actively rejecting discrimination, racism, bullying, and teasing. This comprehensive approach aims to strengthen community belonging and reduce violence through education, awareness, and empowerment.
Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta (Mt. Shasta, Calif.) - $37,600
- First 5 Siskiyou: $17,600
- First 5 Siskiyou Help Me Grow: Thrive From the Start Project - This is a systems-level initiative in Siskiyou County, designed to reach at least 275 children and families with trauma-informed oral health, nutrition, and parenting education. Through diverse partnerships, the program will provide remote dental screenings and oral health education (addressing the 28% of kids who haven't seen a dentist), integrate nutrition education/communal meals into parenting classes (linking to food resources), and strengthen child abuse prevention. The project tackles health disparities, food insecurity, and limited care access. Anchoring services with Help Me Grow Siskiyou for early identification and care coordination, helps create a supportive system where every child has the opportunity to grow up safe, nourished, and ready to thrive.
- Siskiyou Domestic Violence & Crisis Center: $10,000
- Siskiyou Domestic Violence & Crisis Center - This program will provide shelter staffing for our domestic violence emergency shelter, and to provide motel rooms for clients. Fiscal year 2023/2024 we housed 141 new domestic violence victims and provided 936 bed nights. This grant funding helps support 24-7 staffing, helping us provide comprehensive services to all of our clients and to be able to respond to emergency shelter requests at all hours. Motel funds allow safety for clients that for a variety of reasons don't fit shelter criteria such as contagious illnesses and/or pets that are not service animals.
- Siskiyou Food Assistance Corporation: $10,000
- Food Security and Nutrition Program - This project provides a professional, online course focused on food literacy, nutrition, food storage, preparation, and resilience. Clients engage through interactive modules, video lessons, downloadable resources, quizzes, and guided planning. Graduates receive equipment support and one-on-one mentorship. The program will be integrated amongst current SFA clients, including volunteers milling fresh flour for distribution, providing gamma-seal buckets, mills, and other tools to those who complete the program. This project fosters direct impact by increasing the capacity of families to nourish themselves affordably and sustainably, promoting local food resilience and wellness literacy, and creating pathways for food banks to offer deeper educational services.
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital (Grass Valley, Calif.) - $100,000
- The HealthSpan Project: $100,000
- The HealthSpan Project - This is a brand new social wellness movement in Nevada County, California dedicated to improving overall well-being by supporting and expanding existing successful projects and activities that support regional wellness. Its primary goals include enhancing community health outcomes, reducing the prevalence of chronic diseases in the region, and alleviating the burden on the region’s already strained healthcare system. By identifying and elevating effective health and wellness programs, HealthSpan helps ensure that proven strategies receive the attention and resources they need to make a broader impact. HealthSpan provides a unifying framework emphasizing the common outcome of improved health and well-being that is an inherent goal of all stakeholders and community benefit organizations working in the communities we serve.
Dignity Health North State looks forward to seeing the transformative impact of these programs, continuing its mission to improve the health of the communities it serves, both inside and outside its facilities.
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About Dignity Health California
Dignity Health California is a nonprofit network of over 9000 physicians, more than 35,000 employees, 29 acute care hospitals, and 200-plus care-centers, including community hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Dignity Health California provides award-winning care to communities in five primary markets across the state: North State, Sacramento, Central Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California.
Dignity Health is a member of CommonSpirit Health, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit Catholic healthcare organizations, dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. Learn more at DignityHealth.org and CommonSpirit.org.
