Archstone Foundation is pleased to announce that three new grants were approved by the Board of Directors this quarter. The funding will help improve care for older Californias in three important ways: Organizing Black communities to advance racial equity; training health care providers to better engage family members in care planning; and strengthening community health centers serving Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Building a Movement for Black Older Adults
Aging While Black, a visionary organization started in Louisiana that is transforming the experience of aging for Black older adults by building a powerful and collaborative movement, received $50,000 over one year to expand its efforts in California. This funding builds off a 2024 conference support grant to the organization.
California’s older Black population is facing a landscape marked by systemic inequities and socioeconomic disparities that threaten their dignity, health, and belonging. Aging While Black plans to help reverse this trend by building systems that honor their wisdom, elevate their voices, and create equitable opportunities for health, housing, and social connection.
By cultivating a vibrant network of partners, innovations, and opportunities that centers Black older adults, the organization is strengthening its presence and ability in California to transform the aging landscape. The focus of its work in the state is bringing together organizations, community leaders, and advocates to advance racial equity, strengthen intergenerational bonds, and elevate the voices of Black older adults in shaping policies and practices. Grounded in three pillars — Recalibrate the Village, Embrace Innovation, and Lean into Sankofa — the initiative leverages collective expertise and lived experience to drive systemic change and foster lasting impact across California’s aging landscape.
Expanding Care to Older Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities
The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations — which works to improve access to quality, affordable health care through policy advocacy with a focus on culturally responsive, coordinated care for underserved Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities — was awarded $225,000 over three years to strengthen the capacity of community health centers that serve older Californians in those populations. This funding builds off a 2024 planning grant to the organization.
More older adults are seeking care through Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), an important part of the state’s safety net system. The populations of older Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders are a growing within these community health centers — and they face intersecting barriers to high-quality care such as language differences, stigma surrounding mental health, and poor care coordination. FQHCs will need to meet the needs of this aging population, who are often eligible for both Medicare and Medi-Cal.
Building off last year’s planning grant, the association’s multi-year initiative seeks to advance more inclusive, culturally responsive, and better-coordinated health and social services for the people it represents. It will provide training and technical assistance to build community health clinic staff capacity in cultural and linguistic competency, patient engagement, mental health support, and interdisciplinary care coordination. And it will create systems-level enhancements and advocacy.
Engaging Family Caregivers in Health Care Planning
The University of California at San Francisco was awarded $137,500 over two years in matching funds to support its Caregivers as Partners in Care Teams, an ACL-funded training program that provides health care teams with the skills and confidence to include family caregivers in patient care planning. This funding extends a one-year grant made in 2024.
California is one of more than 40 states that has enacted a Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, which requires documentation of a patient’s caregiver, involves them in hospital discharge plans, and educates them on care needs. However, health care providers and caregivers often report a lack of skill and consistency by health care teams to notice, educate, and involve a patient's caregiver. It is clear that practical assistance, education, and resource connection for caregivers facilitates better health for them and the people they are caring for.
The UCSF program supported by this grant was developed to address these shortcomings. It involves caregivers in program development and oversight and is modeled on the success of the multimodal education approach taken by Foundation grantee Dementia Care Aware. The program will create, test, and disseminate robust, accessible, and engaging training for health care professionals on best practices for identifying and including family caregivers in their family members’ care. The program will increase providers’ cultural competency skills and help reduce harmful, discriminatory practices. The program also provides a billing guide so health care teams learn how to bill for the time spent incorporating caregivers into care plans, and establishment of a learning collaborative for health care delivery partners to share results and lessons learned with others in California and beyond.
Search our database to learn about prior grants awarded.
