Roots Community Health, founded in 2008, is dedicated to uplifting communities of African descent in Northern California. Beyond traditional clinical services, Roots addresses social determinants of health through a comprehensive range of programs, including health and wellness, workforce enterprises, health navigation/community health work, housing support, outreach, and community advocacy. The Root approach ensures coordinated care that promotes our motto, "Healing Our Community From Within."
Our mission is to uplift those impacted by systemic inequities and poverty. East Oakland's low-income neighborhoods have severe access barriers, with only one supermarket for every 93,216 residents compared to one per 13,778 in wealthier areas, reflecting broader healthcare access issues. In the 40x40 blocks of East Oakland, many census tracts have high rates of housing cost burden for low-income renters. These high housing costs place severe financial strain on low-income families.
We accomplish this through medical and behavioral health care, health navigation, workforce enterprises, housing, outreach, and advocacy. Our work bridges the gap between health and employment for Roots members by providing targeted job training, career counseling, and hands-on experience in high-demand industries such as health care. Additional funding will allow Roots to expand critical programs, such as housing, navigation, transition services, and mental health programs.
Roots concluded that the greatest barrier to good health among our community was poverty itself, and that is our responsibility to directly intervene. We also determined that community and data are both integral to creating and perfecting effective solutions. Therefore, Roots hires from the community, creates space for access to health care and employment, civic engagement, facilitates community involvement, and leverage data that directly empowers our community to heal and thrive.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
