On Tuesday, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors approved an implementation Plan for the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub — honoring former Supervisor Federal Glover.
Supervisors had previously allocated $7.9 million for the American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub for the countywide program. An additional $1 million had been allocated for distribution in the form of one-time wellness grants for African American healing.
Supervisor Shanelle Scales-Preston believed they should move forward naming the wellness hub after former Supervisor Federal Glover in his honor – calling it the Federal Glover African American Wellness Hub/Center.
“I think for me, I think Federal, this was bold for him to do. This bold for our entire board to do because it’s not something you generally would see from government,” explained Scales-Preston. “I am thankful to be apart of this hub.”
She added, while Cavallo (Antioch) has been brought up as a potential site, she reminds the community they are not forgetting about Richmond or other potential census tracks that need services.
Supervisor Diane Burgis thanked the equity committee for the hard work in getting to a more “clear cut” plan and while not everyone agreed, but everyone had a voice.
Supervisor John Gioia called it a challenge to set up a new hub and initiative but is happy with out it turned out. He also said he had heard a lot from his District, they want to be included in the program. He said the focus should be the Antioch-Pittsburg area and Richmond-North Richmond areas.
Gioia recommended the Board of Supervisors have 1 seat on the Board of the non-profit while also recommending the name honor Supervisor Federal Glover.
Scales-Preston made the motion to approve the implementation plan for the resource hub and change the name to honor Federal Glover. It was approved in a 5-0 vote.
According to the 40 page presentation, it lays out the three phases:
Phase 1 | 5 months | Aug-Dec 2025
- Establish a Transitional Community Advisory Board (T-CAB)
- Issue RFQ for lead agency to carry out implementation activities and coordination of service network
- Issue RFP for immediate community-based rapid-response services serving high- priority populations and communities
- Establish MOUs/partnership agreements with County departments to coordinate and expand delivery of existing services
Priority Service Categories
- Behavioral Health services, particularly for African American males
- Housing Navigation services and supports, particularly for those at immediate risk and those with young children, including African American males
- Preventative health care, check-ups, and screenings, especially for elders and young children
- Infant and Maternal health care services and supports
- Resource Navigation to enroll in Medi-Cal, Cal Fresh, and other public benefits
- Reentry support and restorative alternatives for those transitioning from incarceration, especially African American males
Phase 2 | 3.5 years | January 2026 – June 2029
Implementation Lead Agency
- Hire an Executive Director
- Create a 501c3 non-profit for the Hub
- Recruit Board of Directors
- Recruit and establish Community Council
- Recruit and hire program staff for the Hub
- Develop training and capacity building opportunities for service network
- Oversee coordination of County and CBO partners and services
- Create a 10-year fund development and sustainability plan
Service Provider Network
- Strengthen and expand current service offerings informed by community needs and perspective
- Grow CBOs’ and County depts’ capacity through professional trainings and organizational development
- Increase reach, trust and credibility of County services among hard-to-reach Black communities
- Nurture and grow CBO-County partnerships through strategic and intentional collaboration, coordination, and communication
- Develop sub-regional networks that offer services meeting community-specific needs, while establishing cross-county coordination and communication practices
ORESJ
- Administer and manage County contracts for both lead agency and network service providers
- This function will require increased staff capacity
- Convene Transitional Community Advisory Body (T-CAB) until 501(C)(3) is established
- Support transition of T-CAB to Community Council
- Support lead agency/Executive Director in nurturing effective partnerships between County agencies, CBOs, and other stakeholders;
- Engage health system partners, municipal leadership, and community organizations to secure long-term service partnerships and sustainability
- Support effort toward securing an anchor site facility, serve as County liaison
Phase 3 | July 2029-ongoing
- Open physical site in East County to serve as anchor institution from which core operations and staff will be based
- County provide ongoing allocation of $1.5M annually for core operations and staff of AAHWRH
- AAHWRH carry out its 10-year sustainability plan that includes public, private and philanthropic funds in addition to County investment
- Community Council expands to multiple, sub-regional Councils that represent unique strengths and needs of respective communities
- Strengthen and maintain effective partnerships between County agencies, CBOs, and other stakeholders (e.g. health system partners, municipal leadership, schools, community advocates, etc)
According to the plan, The Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice (ORESJ) was tasked with developing an implementation plan that builds off the Ceres Policy Research Feasibility Study, which was informed by over 4,000 community survey responses, 16 listening sessions, and 8 district town halls. In addition, ORESJ conducted stakeholder interviews and multiple site visits, gathered County department data and insights, and researched similar efforts occurring in neighboring
jurisdictions and communities. Overall, community members expressed a clear need for holistic, healing-centered approaches, and a majority of survey respondents reported having significant unmet needs in areas of mental health care, legal advocacy, housing support, and culturally responsive employment services. Additionally, a census tract-level analysis using the Healthy Places Index (HPI) identified 12 geographic areas with significant percentages of African American residents and the lowest HPI scores in the county. The analysis found that most of these tracts lack essential infrastructure such as county health centers and libraries, further exacerbating barriers to wellness.
The plan comes as the county has already allocated $8.9 million in one-time allocations. The African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub (AAHWRH) will be funded by $7.9 million in one-time Measure X funds. $7.5 million was allocated by the Board of Supervisors on April 22, 2024 towards the establishment and operation of the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub with an initial priority focus on East County communities. The Board allocated an additional $400,000 on June 10, 2025 to support African American males, and directed that these funds be included in the implementation of the African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub.
Previous
- April 15 – Board of Supervisors Set to Talk Contra Costa County African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub
- April 10, 2025 – Antioch City Council Agrees to Support African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub
- 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
