On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council receive a report on the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub and later approved a Resolution in a 5-0 vote to support it.
The African American Holistic Wellness Center has been a topic of discussion since December 12, 2023 and the county has set aside $7.5 million for the center—while recently, its been discussed that a location in Antioch on Cavallo Road could be selected as its location.
This is a county project/program that is funded by Measure X and is still being developed. It’s estimated the building for the wellness center may not be available for at least two-years.
Dr. Kerby Lynch, lead project manager for the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub, shared this initiative had been around since December 2023 out a community request—particularly folks in East County, and in Antioch.
She highlighted for the past six months, they have been working with a 13-member steering committee that represents 13 residents across Contra Costa County – figuring out how to do the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub.
Lynch shared that in 6 months, they have collected over 4,000 community surveys, held 20 listing sessions, held stakeholder meetings to help come up with a plan on the hub.
“Why is this hub needed? Our wellness is wearing, and immediate action is required,” said Lynch, noting Antioch has 18% of the county’s black population. “The root of how this initiative got started is also deeply impacted by community trauma.”
Lynch shared this is county led and initiated with $7.5 million of Measure X towards the star up. She was tasked with doing a feasibility study, come up with a service model and come up with a deployment strategy for the services.
She then went into data – see graphic below:
Lynch shared that in the first phase, they see it being a mobile fleet because the biggest challenge to health was transportation. The mobility will allow people to get services. While Phase 2, will be a bit more permanent at a location—these will be satellite locations while still coordinating a mobile van system.
By Phase 3, it will have a centralized hub saying they were given a list of county assets to review. They identified a property in the City of Antioch at 1650 Cavallo road currently being used as a call center—which will be moved to Brentwood in the future.
“We do believe Antioch is the best place, but also Cavallo Road is the best location because of its scale and 24,000 square feet. We want this to be a self sustaining enterprise with a mix of private businesses and non-profits who utilize this space to provide service,” explained Kirby.
Proposal Overview: Structure & Services
- Mission & Vision:
- A holistic, community-led, culturally competent Hub addressing systemic disparities.
- Not duplicating services, but coordinating & expanding existing efforts (e.g. grassroots, local, state and federal).
- Key Service Areas:
- Health & Wellness:
- Preventive & primary healthcare
- Black maternal health services (doulas, prenatal care, postnatal support)
- Culturally competent mental health services
- Housing & Economic Stability:
- Housing navigation services, eviction prevention
- Workforce development and Black entrepreneurship incubator
- Community & Cultural Healing Spaces:
- Intergenerational mentorship, arts & cultural programming
- Legal advocacy and reentry support for justice-impacted individuals
Antioch’s Role in the AAHWRH
- Proposed Hub Site: 1650 Cavallo Road
A county-owned facility in District 1 is under consideration as the permanent site for the Hub, with a decision by the Board of Supervisors set for April 15. - Centering Equity in District 1
Locating the Hub at Cavallo supports long-overdue investments in historically underserved neighborhoods and aligns with Antioch’s efforts to reduce violence through healing. - Partner Through In-Kind Support with No Immediate Fiscal Commitment
Antioch can demonstrate leadership by offering in-kind support—such as space-sharing, mobile coordination with AQCRT, cross-referrals with partners like the Felton Institute, and youth internship placements through the RISE Program. If there is alignment and support from city leadership, we would like to explore a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the near future to launch this initiative quickly and responsively in Antioch
“Again, in our community engagement sessions, people had mixed thoughts about Cavallo. People thought it was kind of unsafe, they felt like I dunno if it should be there. I just want to be transparent about that, but also people thought it was a perfect location because that is where the most needs are. That zip code and that district,” explained Lynch. “At the core, they want to invest in the most high-need areas whether that is central or mobile services… the data shows Antioch has the most need.”
“We also love the Angelo Quinto Crisis response team, we also think that is a great immediate partner to increase the need for mobile crisis services in this area,” said Lynch. “We see this being a nice match.”
She reminded the council that they were still in the feasibility stage, but would be coming online soon.
Under a separate agenda item, the city council is being asked whether or not they want to support the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Center (watch presentation)
Support for the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub (AAHWRH)
RECOMMENDED ACTION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution in support of the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub (AAHWRH) initiative, recognizing Contra Costa County’s leadership, affirming Antioch’s willingness to explore opportunities for collaboration, and reinforcing the City’s commitment to racial wellness equity.
FISCAL IMPACT
The fiscal impact is unknown at this time. Too, the initiative is entering its implementation phase. Rather than requiring financial investment, early-stage participation by the City of Antioch could include in-kind support such as:
- Temporary space-sharing during mobile service deployment
- Coordination with the Angelo Quinto Community Response Team (AQCRT)
- Youth internship placements via RISE and other City programs
- Cross-referrals with City-funded providers
Contra Costa County, in partnership with Ceres Policy Research and the Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice (ORESJ), has completed a feasibility study for the development of the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub (AAHWRH). The Hub is a community-rooted initiative designed to address long-standing racial disparities in health, housing, reentry support, and economic opportunity for Black residents across the county.
The study was informed by over 4,000 survey responses, 16 listening sessions, and district-based town halls, including input from Antioch residents.
The AAHWRH will provide culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and wraparound services in a phased approach—beginning with mobile and satellite services and transitioning to a permanent site. The County has identified 1650 Cavallo Road in Antioch, a county-owned facility in District 1, as a leading candidate for the Hub’s future home. A final decision is expected by the Board of Supervisors on April 15, 2025.
Anticipated Future Ask: Should the City express alignment and interest, the County may invite Antioch to explore a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) as a near- term tool for partnership and coordination. This would allow the Hub to launch services quickly in East County while formal governance structures continue to develop.
Lynch shared at the March 17 equity committee meeting, there was a request from Board of Supervisors to explore governance of the hub was a JPA because of the sale given Antioch, Richmond, Pittsburg, Brentwood, Oakley, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Pinole and Hercules have all been a part of the process—from mobile crisis, HIV prevention to other issues.
“From my perspective with a Joint Powers Authority (JPA), that is really a service forward which is different for Contra Costa County, it’s a lot of pulling resources like pulling insurance together,” said Lynch who was looking at inspiration from Solano County where all the cities come together to share resources for homeless services (50/50 between cities and county)
She called it an idea for the black community to coordinate these services down the road—maybe 3 to 5 years. But highlighted the menu of services to be provided was based off their community engagement of 4,000 surveys and 20+ listening sessions.
She said the feasibility study will come out, 228 pages, in the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Agenda for its April 15 meeting.
Lynch shared who will receive the services based off the steering committee based on who needs to be the priority:
- Unhoused
- Justice impacted
- Elders
- Families with young children
- Family planning services
- Adolescence services
- Adults
- LGBT/Disabled/Immigrant black residents
She added they had a significant portion of African immigrants from East County who filled out the survey where 6% were Nigerian immigrants.
“We want to be very conscious that black folks are not a monolith, there are interactions after intersection. It’s designed with black folks in mind but as you know, who will be left out of service, not anyone particularly,” explained Lynch noting because of Prop 209 they cannot deny services or preferences based on race. “The hub is all inclusive, but its really important to note that the interventions and programs and how they are designed are to be culturally competent, trauma informed, healing centered by coming from Afro centric, kind of like a non-standard approach to delivering services.”
She continued, “its not like anyone is being left out of services, but if it looks different than a A-typical county program that you are used to be participating in, its because its intentionally designed from a program level, logic model, theory of change with the black community in mind.”
She added that its also about increasing the number of people served where some programs are serving 20-25 people, but really, it should be 500 people countywide. She called this about scaling up.
Due to innovations proposing, the estimated cost could be $357 per person and do not want to duplicate services by competing with cities.
Councilmember Louie Rocha said based on the data and information provided, this would benefit all.
Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker said she asked for a Resolution early on was because many times tax dollars and county services are bypassing Antioch – including a youth center which is going to Bay Point and Brentwood. She also called for more resources as a whole.
She also stated she appreciated all the voices who came together to drive home the conversation around African American Wellness in Contra Costa County.
“But making sure, we are prioritizing residents and the voices of people impacted by racism, white supremacy and state sanctioned violence,” said Torres-Walker noting that is the context of where the advocacy started behind the wellness hub, but before 2021, it was because of a report that was released on a “great racial disparity in Contra Costa County” and the County of Contra Costa declared racism a public health issue in the county. “If you don’t believe me look it up. You can’t declare something a public health issue but then not provide the dollars behind it to address the public health issue that you just declared. We have a significant opportunity here.”
Councilwoman Monica Wilson said she supported the item Resolution and wellness center. She added that if you help the most vulnerable, then the entire community is strong. She asked that they address human trafficking as part of the programming.
“I wholeheartedly support this and I wish it had more teeth,” said Wilson.
Councilmember Don Freitas said it was clear this is needed, and East Contra Costa County has been the stepchild of the county. He agreed that this needed to be a JPA of more than just the County and City of Antioch. He urged them to push for a JPA.
Mayor Ron Bernal appreciated Dr. Lynch for communicating the need to the community. He called it a place where they could work with the county and a JPA could involve many other agencies and be collaborative as possible. He called it a unique model for a unique community. He said he was supportive of the resolution.
The Antioch City Council approved the Resolution in a 5-0 vote.
Previous Stories:
- Sept. 30, 2024 – Grant Opportunity to Provide Services to Increase and Expand African American Holistic Wellness: The County will be awarding up to $880,000 in one-time grants to community-based service organizations to augment and expand existing services or programs by increasing capacity (e.g. serving more participants, hosting additional events, extending program periods)
- July 10, 2024 – Firm Selected for Feasibility Study on Contra Costa African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub
- April 30, 2024 – Contra Costa County Sets Aside $7.5 Million for African American Holistic Wellness Center: the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors agreed to set aside $7.5 million in Measure X funding for an African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub. The move came during a 2-day marathon Board of Supervisor Meeting for its Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Recommended Contra Costa County and Special District Budget
- Dec 12, 2023 – Contra Costa Board of Supervisors to Consider Measure X Allocations
