EQUITY COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: October 21, 2024
Subject: $1M Measure X Allocation for African American Wellness
Submitted For: Equity Committee
Department: Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice
Referral No:
Referral Name: $1M Measure X Allocation for African American Wellness
Presenter: Peter Kim
Contact: Peter Kim, peter.kim@oresj.cccounty.us
Referral History:
On December 12, 2023, the Board of Supervisors, at the recommendation of the Measure X Community Advisory Board, voted to allocate $1,000,000 of Measure X funds for existing African American Wellness Services. The ORESJ was tasked with developing a plan to administer the funds. The plan was presented at Equity Committee meetings from February 2024 to April 2024, and included the following:
• Partner with a local community foundation with extensive experience supporting Black-led and Black-serving organizations to serve as a contracted agency tasked with overseeing and carrying out procurement, selection, and fund distribution responsibilities, as well as monitoring of progress and assessing outcomes.
• The ORESJ which will coordinate and lead a community and resident participatory process that includes review of RFP applications and recommendation of awardees (for Board of Supervisors approval).
• Over the last year, the proposal was to release the funding in two annual phases:
• $500,000 in phase 1 (July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025)
• $500,000 in phase 2 (July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026)
• At the September 16th meeting, the Equity Committee decided to allocate the full $1 million in one funding phase (January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025) with an option for a no-cost extension (up to 12 months) for those awardees who request additional time to administer the program.
• While applications for funds will be accepted for all of Contra Costa County, programs and initiatives serving East County’s most impacted communities will be prioritized.
• These awards are expected to augment and/or expand existing services or programs by increasing capacity (e.g. serve more participants, host additional events, extend program periods).
• Based on MXCAB key areas of need, African American holistic Wellness and Resource Hub Feasibility Study Steering Committee input, and existing research data, the proposed service/program categories to be prioritized are:
• Behavioral health supports
• Food and/or housing insecurity services
• Maternal and infant health services
• Youth development support services
• Community healing supports, particularly from trauma due to police violence
After a failed RFQ attempt (June 2024), on September 11, 2024, an abbreviated RFQ was released to solicit the partnership of a community foundation to administer the $1M in grant funds. Statements of qualification were due on October 4, 2024, and five applications were received by the deadline. Applications were received from Antioch Community Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, Heluna Health, RCF Connects and The Praxis Project.
Referral Update:
The following is a summary of the review and recommendation process:
• A total of five (5) proposals were successfully submitted on time by the October 4, 2024 due date.
• Between October 7-October 13, 2024, a five-member review committee independently reviewed the proposals using the scoring rubric provided in the original RFQ and submitted their respective scores for each proposal.
• On October 14, 2024, the review committee met and shared their scores, deliberated collectively on their assessments of the proposals, and unanimously ranked East Bay Community Foundation as the top applicant to be recommended for award.
• ORESJ staff will present this recommendation to the Board of Supervisors Equity Committee, composed of Supervisors Federal Glover (District 5) and John Gioia (District 1), on Monday, October 21, 2024, 10:30AM.
After discussion that includes public comment, the Equity Committee will decide whether to accept the review committee’s recommendation of East Bay Community Foundation; if accepted, the recommendation will move forward to the full Board of Supervisors for final approval.
The final decision of award is pending the full Board of Supervisors approval which will take place at their meeting on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, 9:00AM.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
RECEIVE updates and APPROVE the Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice to forward the recommendation of East Bay Community Foundation to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
Fiscal Impact (if any):
Upon Board of Supervisors’ approval, ORESJ will enter contract creation with the East Bay Community Foundation to receive and administer the $1 million in Measure X funding for African American wellness services.