California Thoroughbred Horsemen's Foundation, Inc.

Our foundation hopes that if we can help create a healthier backstretch population, then we will have a happier workforce to not only care for the horses, but more importantly for themselves and their families.

Through, not only our foundation, but with the assistance of our race track and horsemen partners, we constantly aim to make the workers and their families more aware of the importance of proper healthcare. We are aiming to create meaningful change in their lives and their attitudes while providing each worker and his family members with the dignity they have earned and deserve.

We have four main "tools" we will be using to improve the workers' lives.

The first "tool" is our dedicated staff. We have 10 full-time employees. Nine of these employees have nearly 200 years of cumulative experience at our foundation. Over the years all of them have gotten to personally know the workers' and their family members. This has created a "comfortable" family-type environment where the patient always feels welcome, and more importantly, can be honest with our employees and professional physicians. Historically, this backstretch population has been reticent about seeking healthcare assistance early-on. We are gradually overcoming this reluctance, largely due to our own foundation staff members. We plan to keep it that way!

Our second "tool" is our website that debuted August of 2016. We plan on using this new site as both an educational tool and a marketing tool. We want to educate both workers and people in the horse racing Industry, while also educating readers outside of the Industry on the good work our foundation does. Likewise, we plan on having feature articles and testimonials, citing specific and personal examples of how we have improved a worker's quality of life.

The third "tool" is a movement towards digital fundraising. Whether it be "email blasts," texts to a target audience or social media reach, we are in the beginning stages of bringing our fund raising efforts into modern times.

Our final "tool" is our stakeholder partners. Without the financial and moral support of our race tracks and horsemen's groups, we would not be in business today -- pure and simple! We aim to continue to be totally transparent, keep them informed, and make them feel a part of improving the lives of the workers who are on their race tracks and caring for their horses, with more regard for the horses than themselves.

Through these combined efforts, we believe we can and will accomplish our goals.

Our clinics have the atmosphere of a small, family environment. This casual atmosphere allows the workers and their families to feel more comfortable than in a normal doctor's office. Many of our employees, who have a cumulative 200 years of experience, know the workers well and vice-versa. This leads to more honesty and openness when evaluating a patient.

Internally, our foundation has three clinics throughout the state of California, seventeen employees, a professional medical and dental staff and a strong network of outside Providers when a referral for more specialized treatment is required. Founded in 1984, the California Thoroughbred Horsemen's Foundation has a proven track record for providing continuity of care throughout the treatment process for its patients. We have a strong balance sheet, a well planned investment strategy and a diversified board, made up of directors with backgrounds in medicine, business and horse ownership.

Externally, we have always had the financial and moral support of all of California's race tracks and horsemen's organizations. They are keenly aware that the most expensive asset at any racetrack are the magnificent horses that race for our enjoyment. The workers who groom, exercise, watch over and feed those same horses are the workers we serve. Our foundation, the race tracks and the horsemen all understand that a happy and healthy worker makes for a happy, healthy race horse.

Through the combined efforts of all of the people described above, we have served and assisted the backstretch workers and their families for over thirty years. We plan on repeating that -- and more!

We believe our foundation, over more than thirty years, has clearly improved the quality of life for the backstretch workers and their families. However, there is much more work to be done.

Our recent mammogram screenings are just the start of our effort to prevent breast cancer in our female patients.

We believe our diabetes educational programs, highlighted by nutritional guidance, will greatly reduce the number of pre-diabetic and diabetic patients now and into the future. We also have a contract with a custom-shoe company that manufactures customized diabetic footwear.

What we haven't accomplished is to identify other preventative programs that will lead to early detection of a myriad of diseases before they can manifest themselves. We believe that a greater emphasis on preventative programs directed towards a population reticent to step forward when they sense something is medically wrong, well may be our greatest contribution towards our mission of improving the quality of their lives.