Our vision is that all people regardless of who they are or where they live, can achieve their highest level of health.

National Health Foundation's strategies to support healthy equity initiatives focus on improving social and economic structures in order to decrease barriers and improve support systems that allow people to achieve their full potential. This is achieved through: 1. Direct Service: Essential services to under- or low-resourced individuals and communities that address immediate social needs like providing job training, shelter, education, food stamps, etc. 2. Research: The process of systematic inquiry that includes the collection of data; documentation of critical information; and analysis and interpretation of that data/information to inform or improve work. 3. Community Engagement: The relationship-building process that develops trust and understanding between NHF, community residents, stakeholders and civic institutions in order to elevate local voices in solving issues impacting the community's well-being. In the case of each and every NHF program, the focus is on removing the barriers created by social determinants of health for individuals and under-resourced communities.

Theory of Change A unifying theory of change is the underlying logic of how an organization’s programs and services (individually and collectively) fulfill its mission and achieve its vision. The theory of change also becomes a framework for evaluating each new program or funding opportunity and determining if that direction will advance the mission and strategic direction or detract focus. NHF accomplishes its mission by addressing the social determinants of health and creating innovative programs to address identified health needs and gaps in services. NHF leverages its core competencies to identify needs, bring stakeholders together, work in collaboration to develop and secure funding for innovative programs, expand programs as necessary to test in varied communities and establish the validity of the models. NHF has a dual focus to create innovative programs as solutions to the root causes of health inequities and to manage programs that continue to meet social and health needs and are financially sustainable. Core Competencies The following core competencies provide the skills and attributes necessary to implement NHF’s mission and its corresponding theory of change. Working in Collaboration with Hospitals and Health Plans: NHF has historic ties to hospitals in Southern California and hospital associations throughout California. This provides a relatively unique capacity to bridge the needs of hospitals, health plans and the needs of communities and populations. NHF provides added value to hospitals and health plans through approaches that: foster relationships between them and the communities they serve; identify the health and health needs of communities (through community benefit assessments); and results in improved health outcomes that support the mission of hospitals and health plans. Youth Organizing: NHF’s youth organizing programs facilitate young people of color in bringing about health equity for their neighborhoods by engaging in community activism to remove policy, systems and environmental barriers to healthy living. This strategy includes techniques that engage youth in 1) Systems Change Campaigns, 2 Leadership Development, 3) Personal Growth and Transformation, 4) Civic Engagement, 5) Base Building, and 6) Movement Building. Direct Service Provision: NHF has become a recognized, quality service provider for individuals experiencing homelessness. It can be argued that NHF’s youth programs are also direct service, as they represent NHF working directly in the community, influencing behavior, systems and environmental change. Community Engagement: NHF improves the health and builds the capacity of communities through empowerment and training of community members. NHF has combined several proven strategies and arrived at a comprehensive model to move communities toward better health.

At the highest level, National Health Foundation has an organizational strategic plan, currently covering 2019-2022. The goals of this plan include ongoing management of programs, strategic growth of programs and staff to match, marketing and communications, fund development and board management. NHF tracks objectives, activities, and metrics related to these goals software platform called AchieveIt. This program enables staff members to manage and communicate about the work plans set up to achieve the goals. Progress on the strategic plan is reported out to the Board of Directors and the Board’s Program Committee on a quarterly basis for their input and direction. At the programmatic level, National Health Foundation maintains output metrics for each program, but evaluation of the outcomes can vary in scope. NHF’s recent Impact Report provides an excellent overview of the impact our programs have had on the communities we serve. The Impact Report is produced on annual basis.

In 2019, NHF made great strides in the areas of food access, built environment, education and housing. Here are some key highlights: Food Access: -- 8,200 community members participated in 250 nutrition education classes, healthy cooking demonstrations and community health fairs -- 65 hours of training, research and youth organizing conducted with NHF youth leaders -- 20 NHF youth leaders worked on increasing food access in the community -- 6 advocacy meetings hosted by NHF youth leaders with neighborhood councils, peers, school administration and community stakeholders Built Environment: -- 1 brand new community garden established by Pico-Union community residents -- 500 hours dedicated to building and maintaining the community garden -- 100 hours of advocacy efforts focused on achieving park equity through Measure A funding -- 10 Park Equity Alliance meetings attended to advance funding guidelines for Measure A -- 100 children and families participated in South Los Angeles Park Pride Day planned and convened by NHF youth leaders -- 80 city and regional planners attended a presentation about NHF's youth-led park assessment recommendations at the Healthy, Equitable Land Use Network Conference -- $22 million per year in funding will be made available to eliminate park inequities in park poor, low-income Laitno and Black neighborhoods, as a result of NHF and Park Equity Alliance advocacy efforts Education: -- 139 students were served through NHF's three teen pregnancy prevention programs - Be A Star Boys, Be A Star Girls and Pregnant & Parenting Teens -- 90 educational sessions provided to youth at risk for teen pregnancy and school drop out -- 14,215 baby items donated to teen moms through a partnership with Baby2Baby -- 100% of surveyed teens who are pregnant reported knowing what it takes to have a healthy pregnancy -- 83% of students surveyed agree that they know a place where they would feel comfortable seeking sexual health services as compared to 64% of students at the beginning of the program Recuperative Care: -- 61 new recuperative care beds in-service to LA County -- 24 new Housing for Health beds are in-service to LA County -- 12 recuperative care beds in-service to Ventura County -- 1,328 individuals safely discharged from the hospital to one of NHF's recuperative care facilties -- 15,788 days of service provided to individuals experiencing homelessness through NHF's recuperative care program -- 75 hospitals and health plans contracted with NHF to provide a safe discharge option for individuals experiencing homelessness -- 137 individuals exiting recuperative care were placed in permanent or supportive housing -- $77.5 million saved to the healthcare system through costs avoided