Funded Initiatives

The projects below have been awarded funding by the Central Oregon Health Council (COHC) to improve the overall health of Central Oregonians. COHC funds projects whose outcomes align with the current Regional Health Improvement Plan (RHIP).

To learn how to apply for funding from a RHIP workgroup, please visit How to Apply.

Click to see the final Community Investment Profile for the 2016–2019 funding cycle (published February 2020).

P.I.R.S. Youth Sports Programs

SriPonya Collective provides Prevention, Intervention and Recovery Services (P.I.R.S.) to youth, families and communities in Jefferson County and Crook County. Specifically, our P.I.R.S. Youth Sports Programs provide sports agility training to historically marginalized youth in Prineville and Warm Springs. Our programs are specifically designed to enhance athletic performance, build self-esteem and build resilience.

Media Campaign to Reduce Binge Drinking Among 18-34 Year Olds

2020-2024 RHIP

This funding will be utilized to develop and implement an inclusive and engaging media campaign, targeting 18-34 year olds, to help raise awareness about what binge drinking is and to begin to shift societal attitudes around binge drinking. The primary goal of this project is to address a specific metric identified by the RHIP Substance and Alcohol Workgroup: By December 2024, only 25% of adults aged 18 to 34 in Central Oregon reported binge drinking on at least one occasion over the past 30 days. The media campaign will leverage existing assets from the OHA Rethink the Drink campaign where appropriate, as well as local and regional messages specific to Central Oregon, with an intentional effort to reach underserved populations and rural communities. The timeline for this campaign is February 2024-December 2024.

Upstream Healthy Retail Community Assessment for Central Oregon

2020-2024 RHIP

Working with stakeholders from Central Oregon, Upstream Public Health will conduct outreach and community listening sessions to assess community interest and readiness to pilot healthy retail locations in Central Oregon. This outreach will lay the groundwork for future Healthy Retail projects by identifying interested businesses and gathering under-resourced community input.

Central Oregon STI/HIV Prevention Public Health Collaborative

2020-2024 RHIP

The Central Oregon STI and HIV Prevention Public Health Collaborative project creates coordination and epidemiology capacity across the region. Working with partners to address the disproportionate adverse health effects of STI/HIV among certain populations in Central Oregon, this work will support positive physical and mental health for all Central Oregon youth through advocacy for best practices among schools and youth-serving organizations.

Rural Training Improvement Initiative

2020-2024 RHIP

East Cascade Works and the Central Oregon Behavioral Health Consortium (COBHC) are partnering with COHC to develop greater opportunities for behavioral health interns to be trained in our rural and frontier adjacent communities. COBHC is working to expand our ability to provide stipends to interns in training programs that are dedicated to learning and treating prioritized populations. We have increased our training stipend amount for trainees doing rural and child and family work to align with OHA and state efforts to improve workforce development in these regions. Furthermore, COHC-awarded funds will extend COBHC's operations beyond our current funding period, greatly expanding our efforts to train and retain our locally grown behavioral health talent.

SCHS/OHSU Psychiatry Residency Program

2020-2024 RHIP

The SCHS/OHSU Psychiatry Residency Program is a Graduate Medical Education (GME) training program that will allow graduating doctors to complete four years of psychiatry training centered on the Bend campus of St. Charles Health System (SCHS). The residents in training, who are already MDs or DOs, participate in the GME program, graduate, and write specialty exams to become independently practicing physicians. By having the psychiatry residency program at SCHS Bend, there will be better access to psychiatric inpatient and outpatient services and will also further attract additional doctors to Central Oregon, increasing the care available to the community. The need for new psychiatrists in Oregon is critical—the state ranked 49 out of 50 for access to psychiatric care. The psychiatry residency program is a joint effort and collaboration between SCHS (the institutional sponsor) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU, the educational sponsor), with OHSU supplying educational oversight of the program. The program will begin in 2025 with six new psychiatry residents.

Consultation to Sustain Central Oregon Peer Services
in Substance & Alcohol Misuse Settings

2020-2024 RHIP

The Oregon Council for Behavioral Health will engage five Central Oregon peer organization grantees in a learning collaborative model to create and implement a peer services financial sustainability plan for each organization. Learning collaborative content will focus on sustainable skills development for data collection and continuous process review while fostering a community of practice. The peer organizations will have member-level access to OCBH resources, which includes community of practice convenings, training sessions, events, and advocacy activities. Throughout the project work, OCBH will use its resources to determine and gather data from funded organizations to inform lobbying and policy needs and provide recommendations to bridge regional peer service needs and statewide policy change.

Peer Support Services

2020-2024 RHIP

New Priorities Family Services (NPFS) is a nonprofit mental health and substance abuse outpatient program in Redmond, Oregon. Our Mentor/Peer Support Services (PSS) program allows us to help clients of all ages, from children to seniors, throughout Central Oregon. NPFS has been able to expand the number of mentor/peer support specialists through hiring, training, and retention. It allows us to handle more referrals and increase additional services for alcohol and drug-dependent clients, including continuing follow-up services for those completing treatment or dropping out of treatment and still needing support by allowing us to stay engaged with clients for a longer period of time. We have been able to expand our teen program and improve our DUII program. The peer support specialists have enabled us to provide additional support and help for mental health and substance abuse clients with additional resources in the community.

Live-In Peer Mentor Wage Support

2020-2024 RHIP

DAWNS House (Directly Assisting Women Newly Sober) was granted its 501(c)(3) exempt status in 2014 and we opened our doors in May 2015 to meet the enormous need and gap in SUD housing for women. DAWNS House provides support to displaced and homeless women/families who are recovering from the disease of addiction and/or alcoholism through structured, guided, sober transitional housing. DAWNS House operates three homes in Bend with 21 permanent beds, an emergency bed home with six emergency service beds, and our Alternative Housing Program with four cabin units for family reunification is under construction. DAWNS House is a peer-run organization and has live-in certified recovery mentors for each home. The peer-support grant from COHC has reinforced and strengthened our efforts in the battle against addiction and homelessness. The mission of DAWNS House is to provide a safe and compassionate living option for newly sober women/families seeking long-term recovery. DAWNS House helps to break the chain of addiction and recidivism, promotes personal health and community responsibility, and gives participants in the program an opportunity to live productive and fulfilling lives.

Central Oregon Regional Childhood Immunization Rate
Quality Improvement Project

2020-2024 RHIP

The immunization rate improvement project will focus on increasing the immunization rates of two-year-olds in Central Oregon to 80 percent by implementing the AFIX-based IQIP program at participating clinics that serve children who are two years old and younger. Although many infants and toddlers receive the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended vaccines by age two, a significant proportion in some communities do not. As of 2016–2017, only 69 percent of two-year-olds in Deschutes County, 70 percent in Crook County, and 71 percent in Jefferson County were up to date on immunizations. These rates are well below the Central Oregon Regional Health Improvement Plan (RHIP) goal of 80 percent, which is needed to control the spread of infectious diseases. The current rates for young children in Central Oregon leave children and the wider community at increased risk for disease outbreaks. This project will hire a dedicated immunization quality improvement coordinator for a period of three years. The coordinator will be based out of the Deschutes County Public Health Department and will work with clinics that serve children two years old and younger throughout Jefferson, Crook, and Deschutes Counties, as well as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and northern Klamath County.

Increasing Qualified Peer Support at the Cascade Peer and Self-Help Center

2020-2024 RHIP

Cascade Peer and Self-Help Center is a low-barrier drop-in center for people experiencing ongoing mental health and/or addiction issues who are engaged in mental health or addiction treatment or referred to the center as part of their after-care program. Intentional Peer Support is the cornerstone of the program, whereby clients can utilize new skills learned in treatment and receive emotional support when struggling with life issues. All staff are trained in Intentional Peer Support. In addition to peer support, the center offers planned activities, a light breakfast, a nutritional lunch, laundry facilities, a shower, and free used clothing. COHC funding has made it possible for the center to be open five days a week instead of the previous three days. This project focuses on hiring additional state-certified addiction-based peer support specialists/traditional health workers to further our mission to support individuals struggling with addiction and help guide them toward resources and self-autonomy in their recovery process.

The Healthy Eating and Food Insecurity Produce Voucher Program

2020-2024 RHIP

The Healthy Eating and Food Insecurity Produce Voucher Program aims to measurably reduce food insecurity in participants as well as improve their health. The program draws participants from existing La Pine Community Health Center patients as well as the community in general. By providing fruit and vegetable vouchers, the program gives participants the opportunity to include nutrient-dense produce in their diets when they may otherwise feel they can’t afford to do so due to low income or travel difficulties. Nutritional counseling helps improve participants' knowledge about how what they eat affects their overall health and helps them make wiser choices when shopping. It also provides a structured way to help make meaningful lifestyle changes. Allowing participants to pick out their own food (versus food boxes) may encourage connection to their food and provide greater autonomy.

Media Campaign Promoting Intended Pregnancy

2020-2024 RHIP

Brink Communications, a Portland, Oregon–based, mission-driven, women-owned business comprising forty dedicated, strategic, and creative professionals, in collaboration with COHC's Upstream Prevention workgroup, will implement a media campaign aimed at promoting intended pregnancy across Central Oregon in 2022. Brink brings a very intentional, multiphase approach to campaigns, beginning with audience research, landscape analysis, and review of relevant data, to ensure that our strategies reflect the cultural diversity and intersectionality of identity of the key audiences we are trying to reach. With our research in hand, we will move into the development of messaging and campaign concepts and the creation of assets to develop a full campaign implementation plan. We believe that the decision about whether and when to become a parent is one of the most important decisions we face—and one with significant implications for our families, our economic security, and our futures. Our team will work to understand the barriers key audiences face and build a framework that will help them embrace agency in their lives.

Improving Access to Fresh Local Foods

2020-2024 RHIP

The High Desert Food & Farm Alliance will build upon the prior success of our Grow & Give (fresh food donation program) and Fresh Harvest Kit (ready-to-make meal kits at food pantries) programs to expand the range and volume of foods provided to both SNAP and non-SNAP eligible food-insecure residents. These programs will contribute to increased nutrition security for those utilizing food pantries in 2022 and 2023. Their focus will be on the more rural regions and meeting the needs identified by food pantry clients, working with our Food Security Advisory Committee to meet the needs in the region, and partnering with multiple agencies and farmers to provide improved diversity and volume of high-demand vegetables and fruits. This project will use participatory processes to collect community feedback and direction for programs and deliver tens of thousands of pounds of locally grown, nutritious produce to the regional food bank system.

Asset-Limited Income-Constrained Employed Lived Experience Listening Sessions

2020-2024 RHIP

Quon Design and Communication Inc. will conduct listening sessions to uncover barriers involved in being Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed (ALICE). The assessment will include the barriers of housing costs and transportation and focus on rural areas of the region.

Satellite Food Pantry

2020-2024 RHIP

With the help of funding from COHC, the La Pine Community Kitchen has partnered with Oregon State University Nutritional Education to expand our food box distribution to include weekly distribution along with nutritional education into the rural area of Gilchrist. This will serve the low/no income people that have limited transportation and are experiencing food insecurity in the rural communities of southern Deschutes, and northern Klamath Counties. OSU will provide recipes and nutritional education at least once a month at the distributions. We will start weekly food box distribution the first Wednesday in May, which we are very excited about. Our distribution site is in the parking lot of the La Pine Community Health Center next to the high school. This will further facilitate distribution to those in need by increasing access to groceries for students to take home.

SriPonya School of Recovery

2020-2024 RHIP

SriPonya’s mission is to offer individuals, couples, families, and communities a revolutionary path from conflict, self-defeating patterns, and addiction to freedom and wholeness. We accomplish our mission through collaboration and partnership with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and businesses in Central Oregon by offering SriPonya’s transformational School of Recovery and other customized recovery programs and retreats to individuals and families struggling with addiction.

Beef for Food Banks and Community Kitchens

2020-2024 RHIP

The 1017 Project has curated a one-of-a-kind distribution system to raise and donate fresh USDA beef to food-insecure families throughout the Central Oregon region and beyond. What began as a small “cattle project” in Powell Butte, Oregon, has transformed into a multi-state hunger-fighting organization that has donated over 1 million protein servings and successfully replicated a supply-chain system throughout Oregon, as well as parts of Texas, Montana, and Arizona. Longevity and resourcefulness in the marketplace have allowed the 1017 Project to build consistent, supply-chain collaborations with USDA processing facilities, cold storage facilities, cattle ranchers, trucking companies, hay suppliers, veterinarians, and municipalities to deliver a steady supply of protein to food banks and community kitchens, even during times of retail supply-chain fluctuations. The 1017 Project is reimagining how communities might provide their most vulnerable citizens with options as fresh (or fresher) than what consumers can buy at the grocery store.

Peer Resource and Infrastructure for Central Oregon MAT Program

2020-2024 RHIP

Ideal Option’s mission is to provide underserved populations with low-barrier access to evidence-based addiction treatment. Funding from this project will be leveraged to employ a full-time peer navigator and build infrastructure for a sustainable peer program. An individual in early recovery is often faced with the need to abandon friends and social networks that promote and help sustain a substance use disorder, but has no alternatives to put in their place that support recovery. Peer navigation can help such individuals in treatment make new friends and begin to build alternative social networks. Individuals in substance use disorder treatment face many barriers, and a peer navigator could provide direct support to increase access to social resources and overcome barriers. The core roles of this peer navigator will include need identification, advocacy, practical assistance, health care appointment support, emotional and social support, education, referrals, collaboration, evaluation, and support to navigate the health care system. This navigation will not be limited to services at Ideal Option. Ideal Option and the peer navigator will assess the needs of each patient and make referrals to other services as appropriate. The peer navigator will assist the patient in navigating the health care and social services systems during their induction, treatment, and recovery.

Feeding Families: Community Table Project

2020-2024 RHIP

Seed to Table's Feeding Families: Community Table Project strives to ensure people of all races, ages, sexual orientations, genders, abilities, geographies, and socioeconomic statuses have access to fresh, locally grown produce. It is a community-based model, providing six needed and identified community-based access points to connect low-income families with access to fresh produce weekly in ways that support their dignity, self-respect, and preferences. This access is intended to decrease barriers, including cost, transportation, and safe pickup, and to build a sense of community among program participants. The project has implemented a sliding scale payment model for the farm's Produce Share, which allows participants to self-select their payment level, and accepts SNAP/EBT and Double Up Food Bucks for both the Produce Share and at Sisters Farmers Market. We continue to work with community partners to provide weekly vegetables and Fresh Harvest Kits to families in Central Oregon.

Craig’s Compassionate Cafe

2020-2024 RHIP

Redemption House Ministries (RHM) is proud to operate Craig's Compassionate Cafe, which is the only hot meal service available five days a week at no cost to homeless and low-income residents of Crook County. The cafe is successful primarily due to a unique collaboration with the Prineville Church of the Nazarene, which donates the cafe kitchen facility and space for the women's shelter; Facebook Data Center, which supplies the cafe with the extra food they are unable to serve at their daily meals and keeps our food costs down; and a group of dedicated volunteers. RHM desires to increase the number of meals it serves by expanding meal service to six days a week and will hire a cafe manager to expand our outreach to the community. Most important, during meal service times our case manager/housing navigator will be available to meet with our guests and link them to other community resources available to assist them in their self-sufficiency goals and reduce food insecurity.

Let’s Be Active and Eat More Fruits and Veggies with OSU Extension Service

2020-2024 RHIP

Oregon State University Extension Service engages the people of Oregon with research-based knowledge and education that strengthens communities. The Deschutes/Crook Extension Service Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education program provides evidence-based programming, uses social marketing, and implements systems and environment changes that improve food and activity environments in our community. This project will increase fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity for youth with a variety of educational opportunities for three years. Utilizing a variety of nutrition education touch points will increase opportunities to experience and learn about fruits and vegetables. These opportunities include all school healthy recipe tastings at seven locations, an after-school cooking series at a middle school combined with food safety and culinary skills, supplying healthy snack recipe ingredients for families participating in a summer Kids on the Move series, and Food Hero tickets for youth to purchase fruits and vegetables at the Redmond Farmers Market. To increase physical activity, this project includes one hundred BE Physically Active 2Day Toolkits and training for any interested local elementary schoolteacher.

Learning Good Health Habits Early in Life to Prevent Chronic Disease

2020-2024 RHIP

Our project, initiated by Jefferson County Public Health in collaboration with Madras High School, the Jefferson County School District, Central Oregon NeighborImpact, health care providers, Madras Athletic Club, and other community programs, will be implemented in Jefferson County during 2022. For this project, we will promote healthy eating habits and physical activity for adolescents, based on support from our project partners and community participation. We expect that this will move forward our long-term goal to prevent chronic disease and premature death among Jefferson County’s residents. Our project priority population is youth aged 12 to 24 years old, particularly Hispanic and Native American students and other youth and young adults from the Madras, Metolius, and Culver areas and Warm Springs.

Resilience and Belonging Measure

2020-2024 RHIP

The Resilience and Belonging Measure project is a collaboration between Oregon Health & Science University's Community Research Hub in Central Oregon and Oregon State University–Cascades' Human Development and Family Sciences. This project involves a multiphase research process that will include literature review, collaborative planning with community partners and the COHC Upstream Prevention workgroup, data collection, data analysis, and synthesizing and sharing results. Data will likely include research methods both quantitative (close-ended surveys) and qualitative (open-ended surveys or possibly other methods to supplement surveys) to gather data inclusively and equitably. OSU researchers will provide leadership in the measurement of belonging and resilience. OHSU researchers will lead the implementation of the measure, including sampling, data collection, data management, and analyses. They will collaborate on research design and interpretation and synthesis of findings.

Creciendo Girasoles (Growing Sunflowers) 2.0

2020-2024 RHIP

Creciendo Girasoles (Growing Sunflowers) is a Migrant Education Program after-school project that invites the whole family to spend an evening together to learn about different subjects. Students in grades preK to 8th receive an hour of ELA/math support and instruction to work on areas still to be mastered. Parents attend workshops that help them to learn to navigate different educational systems while learning about the resources available in Central Oregon. Creciendo Girasoles 2.0 adds a physical activity element to the classes by providing students with physical activities before instruction begins. In addition, students are able to access scholarships, practice sports, and receive gear for sports. Parents also have access to boxes of fruit and vegetables to support the healthy nutrition of our students.

Fruits & Vegetables for Kids

2020-2024 RHIP

The Giving Plate's mission is "Feeding the hungry today with compassion and hospitality." We are committed not just to putting food into the hands of those who need it but to finding creative and empowering ways to come alongside them to remove the shame and stigma commonly associated with accessing services such as food. At the Giving Plate, 60 percent of those we serve organization-wide are 18 and under. We are passionate that no child in our community should ever have to endure even a day without food, let alone feel insecurity around one of life's basic essentials of survival. All three of our programs address food insecurity among youth, but two focus exclusively on childhood hunger—Kids' Korner and Backpacks for Bend. The heart of Kids' Korner is empowering youth to come into their own special "store" where they can get their own food to supplement the food their family gets in our Grocery program. It is beautiful to witness the change in a child when you don't just hand them food but empower them with choice and ownership. Shame and stigma are released and the heart of that child is fed hope and security. Over the next three years, the funding received from the Promote Enhanced Physical Health Across Communities RHIP workgroup to improve fruit and vegetable consumption will support the Giving Plate in its aim to offer our youngest guests nutritionally balanced food in their own specially designed store that is just for them.

Rx to Move

2020-2024 RHIP

Over the next two years, Mosaic Medical will expand the Rx to Move program to increase physical activity among 6- to 18-year-old patients who are at risk for developing chronic conditions early on. Mosaic will hire a designated bilingual patient services representative (PSR), who will coordinate trainings with Mosaic providers including community health workers across all 17 clinics, including six school-based health centers, to refer youth to the program. Youth who indicate that they engage in limited physical activity or have symptoms of depression, diabetes, or weight issues will be referred to the program. The PSR will work directly with youth and their families to identify the youths' interests and work to remove barriers to regular physical activity. This includes working with community partners across Central Oregon and providing resources for registration fees, transportation, sports equipment, and the like.

Increasing Continuum Capacity in the Effort to End Homelessness

2020-2024 RHIP

Homeless Leadership Coalition will work to increase our continuum of care's capacity and positively impact transition to long-term housing and retention of that housing across our region. This project funds positions at NeighborImpact, Redemption House, Dawn's House, and J Bar J Youth Services. It will also support landlord outreach activities provided by our region's housing authority, HousingWorks. Our vision is for housing navigation services and retention specialists embedded in agencies and serving those transitioning out of homelessness, to leverage their relationships to reduce client housing barriers and assist clients to find long-term success and stability. Housing navigators funded by this grant and at other organizations in the community will benefit from proposed landlord engagement strategies and this project should contribute to the utilization of housing choice vouchers. An increase in capacity and dedication toward housing placement and retention will positively impact our continuum’s system performance measures, which indicate how many individuals who transition from homelessness lose their housing stability within the first two years of placement. This project emphasizes collaboration to share placement strategies and case management best practices while also increasing each agency’s ability to engage with the Coordinated Entry System and help launch Central Oregon’s By Name List of those experiencing homelessness.

Central Oregon Assessment of Factors Contributing to Binge Drinking
Among 18- to 34-Year-Olds

2020-2024 RHIP

This project will focus on assessing current binge drinking behavior among 18- to 34-year-olds in Central Oregon. A needs assessment workgroup will convene to engage the target population and collaboratively design the assessment. Existing data on consequences, consumption, and causal areas related to binge drinking will be thoroughly examined through an equity lens. Researchers, together with the workgroup, will identify alcohol-related health disparities within the target population, especially the disproportionate impacts of binge drinking. Additional qualitative data will be collected from the target population to provide detail and context to assist in the creation of recommendations for strategic interventions to address binge drinking among 18- to 34-year-olds.

Advancing Integrated Care: Timely Access and Engagement Metric Development

2020-2024 RHIP

Creach Consulting Group will work with community partners to develop a way to measure timely access and engagement for patients referred from primary care to specialty behavioral health care. Once a feasible metric(s) is established, we will work with regional insurance plans to implement financial incentives to improve timely access and engagement in behavioral health treatment. Once we have reliable data, future projects will allow for targeted interventions focused on improving behavioral health access for all populations in Central Oregon.

Reach Out and Read

2020-2024 RHIP

Through Reach Out and Read, COPA is proud to supply books to all of our patients at their well checks from six months of age through five years old. This program is nationally renowned and has been shown to improve early childhood literacy in the communities it serves by providing new books and education about the importance of reading starting at a young age during children's visits to their doctor. Children and their parents come to love and look forward to their new books at upcoming visits.

Creciendo Girasoles (Growing Sunflowers)

2020-2024 RHIP

Creciendo Girasoles is an after-school program that serves migrant families across Central Oregon. The program provides combined culturally relevant instruction and STEM classes to students in grades preK through 8th. Simultaneously, parents receive classes relevant to the education of their children while learning to navigate educational systems in the United States. Families gather together for a meal and cultural activities during that time.

Juntos Aprendemos (Expansion)

2020-2024 RHIP

Juntos Aprendemos, a culturally and linguistically specific program of the High Desert ESD & Better Together Central Oregon, will be co-creating the implementation of a parent-led early Spanish literacy program with the Jefferson County School District, Jefferson County ESD, and other community-based partners. In partnership with Central Oregon Health Council, we will be starting a 10-week pilot program as early as Spring 2022. Juntos Aprendemos invites Latinx Spanish-speaking parents and their children ages 3–5 into a school setting in cohorts of 30 weeks to develop Spanish language skills through literacy programming and parenting education. This program aims to increase kindergarten readiness and third-grade literacy for Latinx children while supporting parents in their role as “first teacher” to their children in their native language.

Permanent Supportive Housing Development

2020-2024 RHIP

This project enables Central Oregon FUSE to end homelessness for unhoused community members living with disabilities and an extended history of homelessness. FUSE works with partners to meet the region's critical need for permanent supportive housing (PSH), which combines stable, affordable housing with supportive services. By targeting intensive long-term resources, FUSE meets the complex needs of unhoused individuals, whose barriers to stability may include substance use disorders, severe and persistent mental illness, chronic health conditions, and an extended history of homelessness. By pioneering the evidence-based Housing First model of permanent supportive housing in Central Oregon, this project helps mitigate the trauma of long-term homelessness and reduce frequent use of crisis services, emergency room visits, and law enforcement contacts. This three-year project enables FUSE to hire a full-time staff person, provide housing navigation and case management support in our current community-based housing program, and conduct a strategic process to secure long-term, leveraged funding for on-site support services in a planned PSH community development.

Advancing Literacy Acquisition in the Early Years through Evidence-Based Practices

2020-2024 RHIP

This project will focus on improving the early identification of reading difficulties and subsequent support for young children through increased training for faculty and education of students in Central Oregon Community College's (COCC) Early Childhood Education (ECE) program. Students in COCC's ECE program often work in early childhood education centers in their own communities, and these programs offer a critical space to improve young children's literacy in Central Oregon. Throughout, the project will focus on the development needs of the early learning workforce including increased preparation in early identification of reading difficulties, enhanced programming to support the five pillars of reading and comprehension, access to materials to practice classroom engagement strategies (such as decodable books), and engagement in regional programs throughout Central Oregon in which rising educators can work alongside mentors in programs that support children. COCC faculty will receive state-of-the-art training in early identification of reading difficulties to inform ECE course re-design, and ECE students with financial need will be given scholarships to complete this re-designed course.

Crook County School District Graduation Equity Improvement Project

2020-2024 RHIP

The Crook County School District Graduation Equity Improvement Project will seek to collaborate with the Central Oregon Health Council to establish a new model that provides a graduation coach for our freshmen and sophomore students. By providing this resource and support earlier in a student's high school career, fewer students will need intensive support their senior year. We believe that by having a position designated to support off-track students during their early high school years we will prevent students from falling behind in credits and therefore increase our school district's graduation rate, particularly among those students and families who are economically disadvantaged.

Impacting Graduation Rates through Student and Family Engagement

2020-2024 RHIP

Juntos (meaning “together” in Spanish) works to empower families around education by uniting with community partners to provide culturally relevant programming for 8-12th grade students and their parents, Juntos is designed to provide families with knowledge, skills, and resources to prevent youth from dropping out of high school, and to encourage families to work together to gain access to college. This project will work to support the Juntos program throughout Central Oregon by funding the coordinator position, connecting past Juntos participants to serve as mentors to high school students, providing leadership and career exploration opportunities, increasing Juntos high school clubs and by providing trainings and collaboration with community members and school staff who work with OSU Open Campus and the Juntos program in supporting youth on their path to graduation.

Improving Graduation Rates for Jefferson County Youth

2020-2024 RHIP

This project is designed to improve graduation rates for our economically disadvantaged youth. Funding will support one graduation coach who will support or direct students to the appropriate community or school resources to keep students engaged in school and improve graduation rates. Educational support through math and literacy intervention specialists and a trauma counselor are available to support the targeted students. Native language and cultural teachers will also provide classes and programs for the students.

Central Oregon Regional Housing Council

2020-2024 RHIP

The Central Oregon Regional Housing Council (RHC) is intended to build a regional collaborative governance approach to our region's homelessness, housing affordability and housing production crises. The RHC will have a wide range of representative seats aimed at achieving geographic and demographic diversity, and stakeholder and sector interest diversity, which will support crucial objectives for system-level coordination and equity in meeting housing and homelessness needs. Central Oregon is unique in that, though our constituent counties, cities, and tribe each share unique traits and needs, many families may live and shop in one community, attend school or childcare in another, work in yet another, and receive medical care in a fourth city. Because the Central Oregon region is a single, interconnected commute-shed, the housing and homelessness concerns of one jurisdiction affects the others. By offering a space for prioritizing coordinated solutions and inter-agency cooperation, the RHC will be positioned to make significant strides in regional information sharing and data development, strategic planning, program creation, policy development, and project implementation and monitoring, and will be endowed with a clear role by the State of Oregon to engage in decisions and processes conducted by Oregon Housing and Community Services and the Department of Land Conservation and Development.

Improving High School Graduation Rates Through Culturally Specific
College Preparation

2020-2024 RHIP

This project will fund the continuation of the college preparation programs at COCC district high schools for Latinx, Native American, and African American high school students. Specifically, this project will fund the Native American College Preparation Coordinator and will fund the first-ever Afrocentric Summer Symposium. Both these programs seek to improve high school graduation rates and college enrollment through culturally specific college preparation

Restorative Justice & Equity: Practices to Raise Student Retention
and Graduation Rates

2020-2024 RHIP

Restorative Justice & Equity (RJE) will work with the Bend La Pine School District to institutionalize restorative practices into school culture by supporting a community cadre of 25+ trained volunteers who will work with middle and high schools to increase engagement and success of students of color with the long-term objective of increasing retention and graduation rates for those students. Students will be engaged through multicultural/diversity clubs at their schools, as well as through a fourth town hall symposium on racism to be held in Fall 2021 or Spring 2022 (depending on Covid-19 restrictions) to provide the students with a safe space to share their experiences around racism and build support networks among themselves to address and reduce the racism they encounter at school. COHC grants support part of the salaries for the RJE program coordinator, who oversees the community cadre volunteers, and the youth liaison, who works with the student advisory council for the town hall and with the multicultural clubs and also supports continued training for volunteers involved with the community cadre and town hall implementation.

High Desert Food and Farm Alliance

2016-2019 RHIP

The High Desert Food and Farm Alliance’s mission is to increase access to fresh healthy food, support sustainable farm land use, and foster relationships among farmers and consumers. Their project involves developing and disseminating a needs assessment of nutrition wellness programs, as well as offer Cooking Matters classes to community residents.

Tertiary Pain Program

2016-2019 RHIP

The Tertiary Pain Program will provide access to comprehensive pain care resources for individuals and their family or caregivers. This one-year pilot project is a collaborative effort between healthcare and community organizations in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties. The goals of the program are to help individuals with chronic pain improve self-management skills, quality of life, and physical functioning. The program will also help connect patients with existing community mental health, substance use and other healthcare providers on a case by case basis. After the one-year pilot, the leadership team and community partners will review outcomes to help facilitate the delivery of sustainable pain care services across the region.

Bridging the Gap: Between Specialty Behavioral Health & Primary Care

2016-2019 RHIP

Through the “Bridging the Gap” pilot project, Brightways Counseling Group, BestCare outpatient Treatment Services, and Rimrock Trails Treatment Services are partnering with select primary care clinics and the Central Oregon IPA (COIPA) on an eighteen-month pilot project that will significantly increase specialty outpatient behavioral health (BH) access and capacity in Central Oregon. This new innovative project will focus on four components identified by primary care clinics as essential for better meeting patients’ behavioral health (BH) needs: Timely access to specialty BH with closed-loop referrals, higher rates of engagement in specialty BH treatment, evidence-based and outcome-oriented treatment utilizing measurement-based care, and close coordination with primary care. The funds awarded for the project will cover the salary for a BH Navigator, who will track and manage all referrals coming to the three BH agencies from the primary care clinics participating in the pilot project. The BH Navigator will be the single point of contact for patients, ensuring timely access to specialty BH, high rates of treatment engagement, and close coordination with primary care. Patients will no longer “fall through the cracks” when referred from primary care to specialty BH.

Service Maintenance & Expansion

2016-2019 RHIP

Thrive Central Oregon will grow to meet current and future demand for services from Central Oregonians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness by expanding our ability to provide creative affordable housing solutions. We will do this by scaling up our existing service delivery model in existing locations and expanding into North Klamath. Thrive’s service delivery model has proven successful. Our caseworkers meet with clients at convenient public locations such as libraries, which provides cost advantages and allows us to leverage funding into more direct client service hours. Solving Central Oregon’s housing crisis will take creative solutions. Thrive has shown an ability not only to work with traditional affordable housing alternatives such as HUD-subsidized public housing and Section 8 voucher programs offered through Housing Works, but also to develop out-of-the-box housing solutions—including using low-income loans and grants, placement in other affordable housing, access to security deposit assistance, and eviction prevention services—to keep people in their homes. Thrive provides respectful engagement and connection to a range of services that directly impact social determinants of health by addressing socioeconomic factors such as housing, poverty, and inequitable access to community resources.

Deschutes County Stabilization Center

2016-2019 RHIP

The Deschutes County Stabilization Center (DCSC) is a collaborative project between Deschutes County Health Services and the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office to develop a 24/7 crisis stabilization center with 23-hour respite in order to help individuals experiencing a mental health crisis get the support and resources they need. In addition, the DCSC will provide an alternative place for police to bring someone in crisis outside of the emergency department and jail. The COHC funds will allow the DCSC to get closer to its goal of 24/7 by expanding hours later in the evening and the ability to provide services 7 days a week.

Cascade Peer & Self-Help Center

2016-2019 RHIP

Cascade Peer and Self-Help Center is a drop-in center for people experiencing on going mental health and/or addiction issues who are engaged in mental health or addiction treatment or referred to CPASHC as part of their aftercare program. Intentional Peer Support is the cornerstone of the program where clients can utilize new skills learned in treatment and receive emotional support when struggling with life issues. All staff are trained in Intentional Peer Support. In addition to Peer Support, the center offers planned activities, a light breakfast, a nutritional lunch, laundry facilities, shower, and free used clothing. This COHC funding has made it possible for the center to be open five days per week instead of the previous three days. This expansion has been important for being able to provide consistent support to this vulnerable population. In addition, this funding has made it possible to provide more outreach services that help clients get to the center, to be more consistent in attending their treatment appointments and help eligible clients be more aware of our services.

Building Regional Engagement and Capacity to Address Priority Housing Issues

2016-2019 RHIP

With the support of COHC, COIC's Housing for All program will deliver two workshops aimed at bringing together regional housing stakeholders to build joint action and partnerships to address priority regional housing needs, particularly those identified in the Regional Housing Needs Assessment. COHC funding will also support H4A in coordinating a regional housing campaign and small grants program. The campaign and small grants are aimed at empowering regional housing stakeholders to engage in local and state advocacy regarding regional housing needs and solutions.

Youth Summit for Health: Teen Pregnancy Prevention

2016-2019 RHIP

The Youth Summit for Health (YSFH) is a community-based intervention that aims to decrease teen pregnancies by delaying risky sexual behaviors and providing teens with the healthcare resources needed to achieve holistic health. Crook County Health Department, Deschutes County Health Services, Jefferson County Public Health, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs partner with youth and other stakeholders across the region to plan and implement the two-day summit, providing interactive workshops on topics related to building youth leadership and self-efficacy skills. The overarching goal of YSFH is that youth will create and sustain the skills needed to abstain from risky sexual behaviors, advocate to their peers about the health resources available in their community, and gain the ability to recognize the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships.

Addressing SDoH in Central Oregon with a Community Resource
Referral Platform

2016-2019 RHIP

The funding support from the Regional Health Improvement Plan for Addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) will support a one year pilot to establish a build a resource directory in combination with a closed-loop referral system to address patients SDoH needs. Specifically, our goal is to implement a Community Referral Resource Platform across Central Oregon that will incorporate a resource directory and referral management system that will be adopted by a wide range of health care, community, and public health partners in order to provide patients with access to food and other non-medical needs that address SDoH to ultimately improve patient health.

Hypertension Control Education

2016-2019 RHIP

The Central Oregon Independent Practice Association (COIPA) sponsored this proposal for Dr. Mark Backus to educate Central Oregon primary care providers on hypertension control. Dr. Backus has been nationally recognized with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Million Hearts Hypertension Award.

Crook County School District

2016-2019 RHIP

Crooked River Elementary School received funding to pilot a two-year study determining students’ levels of physical activity and understanding the effects it has on health, pre and post physical education equipment.

NeighborImpact

2016-2019 RHIP

NeighborImpact represents and serves economically disadvantaged residents of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties. They assist families and individuals with housing stabilization, early education, childcare, access to food and more. This project aims to keep low- and moderate-income level households remain in housing and avoid homelessness by teaching residents financial skills.

Living Well Central Oregon

2016-2019 RHIP

Living Well Central Oregon coordinates the Stanford Suite of Living Well chronic disease self-management classes across the region for patients with chronic pain, diabetes, and other medical conditions.

MountainStar Family Relief Nursery

2016-2019 RHIP

MountainStar Family Relief Nursery ’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect through community support and therapeutic services which help vulnerable children and families succeed. This program will help at-risk 3-4 year old children in Bend prepare physically, socially, emotionally and cognitively for kindergarten through a therapeutic preschool classroom for 3 years.

Bethlehem Inn

2016-2019 RHIP

The Bethlehem Inn has provided temporary housing for homeless individuals and families in Central Oregon since 1999. To expand their efforts, they are constructing a new building that will double the number of family units and add a commercial kitchen as well as administrative space to their facility. Residents of Bethlehem Inn are provided not only with shelter and meals, but a vast array of health, housing, and social services intended to improve lives and prevent further homelessness.

Perinatal Care Continuum

2016-2019 RHIP

The Perinatal Care Continuum (PCC) serves Central Oregon’s prenatal and postnatal high-risk families. PCC’s funding will serve 240 prenatal patients region-wide, expand care coordination support embedded in local obstetric clinics, and hire a regional coordinator and prenatal screener for Redmond and Madras clinic locations. The goal of the project is to reduce the incidence of low-birth-weight babies and create efficiency in the health system for prenatal patients.

Diabetes Prevention Program

2016-2019 RHIP

The goal of the Central Oregon Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in high-risk individual in Central Oregon. This is accomplished through a coordinated intensive lifestyle intervention that leads to weight loss and increased physical activity. The program is lead by Deschutes County Health Services.

Pacific Crest Affordable Housing Asimeth 315

2016-2019 RHIP

Pacific Crest Affordable Housing is constructing 50 affordable housing units called “Asimeth 315” in Northwest Crossing on Bend’s west side. The multi-family complex will accommodate single and small households with 36 one-bedroom units and 14 two-bedroom units. Thirteen units will be reserved for senior citizens (age 55+). All of the units will be exclusively rented to low- and very-low-income households. Rents will range approximately from $336 to $672 per month with all utilities included. Rent will be determined by household size and income level to ensure affordability. The project will also include resident services that focus on health and access to healthcare. These services will include immunization clinics, healthcare navigation, physical and mental health screenings, referrals, and more. The building will also include a fitness room, a walking/jogging path, raised-bed community gardens, and bicycles available to residents.

Head Start Mental Health Support Services

2016-2019 RHIP

The Mental Health Support Services project, created by Neighbor Impact, will create a wrap-around support system for children who experience complex trauma. This program will be implemented in all of the Head Start classrooms in Deschutes and Crook counties. The Head Start program will provide these children support from specialized staff. The project’s primary goal is to create and implement a support system for children whose complex trauma interferes with their ability to learn.

Kids Club of Jefferson County Transportation

2016-2019 RHIP

Kids Club is a year-round program for high-risk school-aged children in Jefferson County. Kids Club is a before and after school program that runs year round. The mission of Kids Club is to provide enrichment activities and opportunities for children and learn important life skills in a safe environment that will help them to reach their full potential. Kids Club will be purchasing a bus to provide transportation in order for children to participate in additional enrichment and wellness activities. Having available transportation will increase the participation in these activities and will in turn improve the health and well-being of the children.

Vern Patrick Community School

2016-2019 RHIP

The Vern Patrick Community School Project was created in 2010 with the mission to provide quality education to every child, regardless of their living situation. This project focuses on addressing obstacles such as family dynamics, poverty, language barriers, and other Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) to improve the education and development of children in these difficult situations. This program achieves its goals by providing enrichment opportunities, educational experiences, and social support and assistance to the children and their families.

Pfeifer and Associates SUD Housing in La Pine

2016-2019 RHIP

This is a project developed by Pfeifer and Associates (PA) to house homeless individuals in La Pine who suffer from Substance Use Disorders (SUD). For this project PA will purchase a three-bedroom duplex in La Pine to house individuals with SUD for 30 years. PA is already partnered with Housing Works to provide services to individuals and families in recovery living in Housing Works’ properties. PA has also partnered with La Pine Community Health Center to identify the population that can benefit from the project.

Pfeifer and Associates SUD Housing in Bend

2016-2019 RHIP

This is a project developed by Pfeifer and Associates (PA) to house homeless individuals in Bend who suffer from Substance Use Disorders (SUD). For this project, PA will purchase a two-bedroom duplex in Bend to house individuals with SUD for 30 years. PA is already partnered with Housing Works to provide services to individuals and families in recovery living in Housing Works’ properties.

OSU Cascades Student Health & Wellness Promotion

2016-2019 RHIP

The goal of the project is to promote student health and wellness through increased access to services and wellness education opportunities. To accomplish this, a full-time Health Advisor will help students coordinate and navigate already existing community resources and health care services in Central Oregon. This project will also implement health and wellness education and outreach activities. The education and outreach portion of this project will include creating a student advisory group to utilize student-driven outreach. One of the ways the success of this project will be assessed is through the annual implementation of the National College Health Assessment Survey that will be used to collect data on a variety of student health concerns.

Friends of the Children Central Oregon

2016-2019 RHIP

Friends of the Children is an early intervention and prevention program serving children facing the highest risks. Through the support of the Central Oregon Health Council, Friends of the Children will select and match kindergarten children with a full time paid professional mentor whose only job is to work directly with eight children, 16 hours per month each for 12 1/2 years-no matter what. These children are born into circumstances beyond their control and have experienced multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences…together the Friends of the Children will help change their stories.

Jericho Road

2016-2019 RHIP

Jericho Road, a Redmond area non-profit provides a variety of programs including Weekend Food for Students, Immediate Emergency Help, a Hot Meal Program six nights a week and a Housing Assistance program. Since 2005 the Housing Assistance Program has assisted families with children with quick and effective means to keep them in their homes and preventing homelessness. With the help and support of the Central Oregon Health Council, for the first time Jericho Road will be able to expand their program to include senior citizens, veterans, the disabled, individuals on fixed incomes and those who are struggling to maintain their living conditions. What the COHC has helped bring about is a definitive answer for preventing homelessness in the Redmond area.

Kemple Memorial Children’s Dental Clinic

2016-2019 RHIP

Kemple Memorial Children’s Dental Clinic has served the children and young adults of Central Oregon for more than 20 years. For the past 4 years, they have provided preventative services in both non-traditional settings (e.g., schools, community service venues, fairs, etc.) through their Screen and Seal (S&S) Programs as well as their traditional clinic facility. Screening an average of 6,000 children each year, they have identified 25% of these children who have near term or urgent dental needs (1500 children each year in need of treatment) thus insuring timely and high quality response to their needs. In this 5^th year of the S&S Program, Kemple Clinic is proud to once again deliver these services to even more schools and community venues, with the help of key funding from the Central Oregon Health Council. In strong alignment with the goals of the Regional Health Improvement Plan goals, Kemple continues to deliver comprehensive dental programs and services that “keep children cavity free”.

TRACES (Trauma, Resiliency, and Adverse Childhood Experiences)

2016-2019 RHIP

TRACES is a movement dedicated to making Central Oregon a region where every individual has the strengths, social connectedness, and community resources they need to thrive. With funding support from the Central Oregon Health Council, TRACES will identify a high-risk population (kids experiencing foster care), study the total possible spectrum of children’s needs (health, development, education, social connectedness, etc.), and assess a defined population to identify ‘how much’ is needed. Once this work is completed, TRACES and partners will work to attract and direct (potentially significant) resources to agencies that can fulfill the identified needs. The work with the defined population will be evaluated for possible replication region-wide. Over the course of their lifetime, children who have experienced significant trauma are likely to experience lost wages and utilization of healthcare, special education, child welfare, and criminal justice services estimated to cost Central Oregon communities $38-$81 million per year.

Housing for All (H4A)

2016-2019 RHIP

H4A is an innovative regional housing consortium formed to address the multiple dimensions of the housing affordability and availability crisis in Central Oregon, and includes health and human services agencies, private developers, regional businesses, non-profits, local governments, state and federal agencies, advocates, and community members. H4A’s first integrated work plan activity is to update the 2006 Regional Housing Needs Assessment – the new version will look at the region’s current housing stock and distribution, analyze what types of housing are needed now and will be needed in the future (including where and for what populations), and recommend best practice policies, programs, and projects to serve Central Oregon’s needs as the region continues to grow.

Thrive Central Oregon

2016-2019 RHIP

Thrive Central Oregon seeks to connect individual needs with community resources. Individuals and families who are living in poverty are often in need of social services and support. A lack of knowledge of what the community has to offer, transportation and access barriers, and difficulty in navigating systems are primary reasons individuals and families are unable to access these community service supports. Thrive bridges the gap for community members, meeting them where they are in public spaces, providing vital connection to services and support that for many wouldotherwise not happen. Previously, Thrive Central Oregon had operated in eight community locations in Bend, Redmond and La Pine. With funding support from the Central Oregon Health Council, Thrive Central Oregon is able to expand operations into Prineville, thus reaching more Central Oregonians in the communities in which they reside.

Commute Options

2016-2019 RHIP

Commute Options is bringing the Walking School Bus program across Deschutes, Jefferson, Crook and northern Klamath counties with funding provided by the Central Oregon Health Council. Through healthy transportation choices, Commute Options encourages the wellness of individuals, a clean environment, and a strong economy. Commute Options provides educational and encouragement programs across the state including Safe Routes to School, Drive Less Connect, and Friendly Driver. The Walking School Bus program will bring 20 new walking routes across the Central Oregon region. A Walking School Bus is a group of students walking to and from school with an adult Leader on a planned route. The program will increase the number of students receiving physical activity, as well as the number of minutes of daily physical activity. The goal is to encourage youth to implement a healthy lifestyle into their daily routines by walking and rolling to and from school.

House the Children

2016-2019 RHIP

Providing safe, affordable and sober housing is a goal of Pfeifer and Associates for all of our clients and their families. With funding from the Central Oregon Health Council for our HOUSE THE CHILDREN project, we are able to pay for children to live in a sober home with their parent and attend the school in their neighborhood with school buddies as their neighbors. We house on average 10 children monthly in 7 different homes. The average stay is one year and we help parents find other supportive or non supportive housing when they are ready to move on. Children are expected to have a primary care check up, improve attendance and achievement scores at school while in housing.

Transforming Lives

2016-2019 RHIP

The generous support of the Central Oregon Health Council and their two-year investment in Bethlehem Inn will enable Inn staff to serve our region’s most vulnerable community members with best-practice case management services assisting residents to transition from homelessness to stability. Bethlehem Inn is now providing transitional supportive services to twice as many individuals than were served only a few short years ago. The COHC funding helped to develop an evaluation tool and process centered around an innovative, outcome-based approach. The project exemplifies a best-practice approach to the issue of housing as a social determinant of health, while integrating health education and health care access that ultimately creates more efficient and informed users of the health care system.

Advancing Integrated Care

2016-2019 RHIP

Advancing Integrated Care In Central Oregon is an intensive effort to improve all aspects of behavioral health care in primary care settings. The overall goal is to better meet the behavioral health needs of Central Oregon residents. Through this project, all primary care clinics in Central Oregon can receive individualized technical assistance, training, and consultation based on their behavioral health quality improvement goals. Primary care clinics will focus on increasing screening for behavioral health needs, integrating on-site interventions, connecting patients with community resources, and coordinating effectively with outside specialty behavioral health providers

Eat For Life

2016-2019 RHIP

Eat for Life is a regional project that will provide mentorship, education, and financial support for patients with diabetes to manage their disease through proper nutrition. 160 patients who have an A1C level equal or greater than 9 and who identify as food insecure will be eligible to participate in the program. Over the course of four months, patients from Mosaic Medical, St. Charles, La Pine Community Health Center and High Lakes in Sisters will meet with a dietician, nurse, or primary care provider at their clinic and attend a Nutrition Kitchen cooking class every other week where they will receive a $20 vegetable voucher that can be redeemed at any Grocery Outlet in the region.

Rx to Move

2016-2019 RHIP

Mosaic Medical, with funding support from the Central Oregon Health Council, is expanding the Rx to Move project. Through the pilot phase, we found that a prescription from primary care providers for physical activity will increase physical activity among youth served. Youth between 6 and 18 years old who receive health care from any Mosaic Medical clinic are eligible for the program. The goal is to increase the number of days that youth report they are active and assess whether a prescription from a provider is an effective way to increase physical activity among young people.

Embedded Substance Use Disorder Positions Pilot

2016-2019 RHIP

Through the support of the Central Oregon Health Council, BestCare is placing 2 full time embedded substance use clinicians including a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor and Certified Recovery Mentor in the St. Charles (Bend) Hospital for the next two years. The focus will be to engage patients in the appropriate level of behavioral health care after hospital discharge with the goal of reducing the high level of utilization of hospital services by those that have untreated substance use disorders.

Veggie Rx Pilot

2016-2019 RHIP

The High Desert Food & Farm Alliance’s (HDFFA) Veggie Rx pilot program is designed to improve the health of food insecure patients by providing them with vouchers for produce to increase their consumption of fresh vegetables and fruit. Three main objectives of the program are to: 1. Implement a Veggie Rx pilot program for food insecure people with diet-modifiable disease in order to increase fresh food consumption by participants. 2. Provide nutrition education to improve healthy eating habits by program participants. 3. Create community linkages between health care, community resources, food system and participants to enhance community health. Start the conversation about food insecurity contribute to increased provider screening and awareness of food insecurity.

Diabetes Point of Care Testing in Dental Setting

2016-2019 RHIP

Advantage Dental will provide point of care testing in the dental office for diabetic patients and refer to primary care when HbA1c level is >9.0%. This service in the dental office includes education to patients that poorly controlled diabetes can lead to the progression of oral health problems and serious gum disease may potentially affect blood glucose control and contribute to the progression of diabetes.

Kids in Parks: Central Oregon Pilot

2016-2019 RHIP

The Children’s Forest of Central Oregon is launching the successful national program, Kids in Parks, in Central Oregon, focusing on Prineville and Madras. This project will inspire kids and families from Crook and Jefferson Counties to be physically active through hiking and nature exploration. Recent studies show that, on average, kids spend 7.65 hours per day “plugged-in” and only an average of 7 minutes per day in unstructured outdoor play. The project will include developing a network of 5-6 TRACK trails, which are family-friendly, self-guided adventures, and launching TRACK Rx, a system in which healthcare providers prescribe time outdoors, utilizing TRACK trails and other self-guided activities. Youth participation is incentivized through encouragement from healthcare providers and prizes for participation. This project will bridge the healthcare community, local parks and trails, and community partners to develop systems that promote increased engagement with natural areas.

Land Use Consultant

2016-2019 RHIP

Sisters H4H is currently building on a 17 lot subdivision in Sisters. Nine of the homes that have been built are occupied, and construction on two others is underway. The funding from the Health Council helped H4H hire a land-use consultant to help work through the city process of modifying our plan in order to convert the remaining six lots to include 4 additional lots. This will provide home-ownership opportunities for four additional low income Sisters families. Estimated project completion is in 2020.

Regeneration House

2016-2019 RHIP

Redemption House Ministries has successfully opened Regeneration House, a homeless shelter for men in Prineville. The goal is to provide a safe environment for men to sleep, shower, wash their clothes and relax. The men at Regeneration House are also provided assistance in finding employment, as well as information on community services and encouragement to seek these services

Juntos Aprendemos (Together We Learn)

2016-2019 RHIP

In partnership with Central Oregon Health Council, we will be supporting the implementation of a parent led early Spanish literacy program in four elementary schools in the region. This program invites Latinx parents and their children ages 3-5 into their future elementary schools to develop Spanish language skills through literacy programming and parenting education. This is a robust partnership between multiple non-profit leaders and school districts in the region, and is aimed at increasing Kindergarten Readiness and Third Grade literacy for Latinx children while supporting parents in their role as “first teacher” to their children.

Central Oregon Youth Tobacco Photovoice

2016-2019 RHIP

The Central Oregon Youth Tobacco Photovoice Project will give voice to young people throughout the Central Oregon region about the harmful impacts of tobacco as they experience them. The project aims to empower and equip youth to speak with decision makers about policy that would protect from tobacco use and exposure. Additionally, project staff will collect and analyze qualitative data to contribute to the development of tools for primary care tobacco interventions for youth.

St. Charles Mobile Care Clinic

2016-2019 RHIP

The St. Charles Mobile Care Clinic provides ongoing support for patients with poor control of diabetes to help improve self-management skills, identify barriers to care and reduce hospitalizations. Key components include: patient home visits with a certified diabetes educator/RN to assess patient and environment; weekly phone calls from a RN Care Coordinator to monitor patient’s progress on goals and identify needs; care delivered as needed by a pharmacist, dietitian, community health educator and behavior health specialist; and regular reporting to the primary care provider and specialists of patient progress and change in health status. The aim is to facilitate more timely treatment changes for improved health outcomes while helping the most vulnerable patients become more engaged in their own care. The Mobile Care team connects patients to community resources and services, as well as offering support funds to assist patients in improving their management of diabetes. After a one-year pilot focused in Prineville, St. Charles plans to take lessons learned to redesign the delivery of diabetes care across the system.

DAWNS House

2016-2019 RHIP

The mission of DAWNS House is to provide a safe and compassionate living option for homeless, newly sober women seeking long-term recovery. Providing guidance and assistance to help the women reclaim their lives, DAWNS House helps to break the chain of addiction and alcoholism, promotes personal and community responsibility, and gives women in the program an opportunity to live productive and fulfilling lives. DAWNS House is so grateful for the funding of the COHC to initiate the following program. Resident Assistance Program is three-fold. Mentoring, Immediate needs and Life-skills.

More Care: Weeks Family Medicine

2016-2019 RHIP

Weeks Family Medicine provides comprehensive healthcare for individuals, families, pediatrics and Obstetric patients. We believe that it is imperative to also include dental to encompass full body care. By working in conjunction with Advantage Dental, DentaQuest and through gracious funding from the Central Oregon Health Council, Weeks Family Medicines’ More Care project was created. Goals of this project include; Increasing the percent of patients with fluoride varnish application, completed Oral Health Evaluations, self-management goals and developing a bigger dental referral network. By creating awareness with our pregnant mothers, as well as new families with pediatric patients and following newly adopted integration models to help keep our patients’ mouths healthy and cavity free.

More Care: Mosaic Medical

2016-2019 RHIP

Mosaic Medical is excited to partner with regional partners in the MoreCare cohort to improve our efficiencies that will support timely access to dental care for pediatric patients and pregnant women. As our dental program expands, this cohort will allow us to preform integrative services at national standards for oral health integration. We hope maximize our ability to deliver quality care to our pediatric and pregnant patients while ensuring the continuity of care with our external referral entities remains excellent.

Community Engagement Teams

2016-2019 RHIP

Community Engagement Teams is a collaboration between BestCare Treatment Services and St. Charles Health System. Madras and Prineville have some of the highest emergency department (ED) utilization rates in Oregon. 7% of the people using the ED are responsible for 50% of the ED visits. Three-quarters of all ED visits by Medicaid members are by people with substance use disorders, or a severe and persistent mental illness, or both. The goal of the project is to learn if we can reduce Emergency Department utilization by at least 15% by using behavioral health outreach and engagement while improving patient outcomes and reducing costs. The community engagement teams will, (1) engage in the ED during scheduled behavioral health specialist hours the moderate to high utilizers of the ED, especially those with SUD or SPMI Diagnoses, (2) follow up the next day and provide continued follow up, (3) support basic needs and system navigation, and (4) support less harmful behaviors.

Building a Culture of Care in Central Oregon Education Systems

2016-2019 RHIP

In partnerships with our six school districts, early learning providers, institutions of higher education, and TRACEs, Better Together is launching an initiative to ensure cultures of care exist across education systems in Central Oregon. This work will include training over 3,000 educators in trauma-informed care and practices, ensuring trauma-informed policies and procedures are in place across education systems, and increasing capacity for coaching in trauma-informed practices through our local ESDs. The ultimate aim of this initiative is to close disparities in critical outcomes for students to ensure they are set up to live healthy and meaningful lives.

Warming Shelter for Bend

2016-2019 RHIP

The Warming Shelter is a low barrier shelter that opens when the temperature drops below 30 degrees. The shelter is stationed at the Pfeifer and Associates building at 23 NW Greenwood Av. Bend Oregon. Each night there are 2 paid staff that are here throughout the night to facilitate the program and the sleepers. We give incentives to the sleepers who help with clean up in the am. Sleepers can come in at 8 and need to be gone by 7. We screen for needs and connect the sleepers with outreach workers when requested.

Food Relief – Backpacks for Bend (B4B)

2016-2019 RHIP

The Giving Plate is honored by COHC’s support of our newest program – Backpacks for Bend (B4B). B4B is a weekend food-relief program serving severely impoverished children in the Bend/La Pine School District. Adopted by The Giving Plate in June 2018, B4B is the only program of its kind serving Bend/La Pine students. Every week, 450 food-insecure children receive a B4B food tote, which is discreetly tucked into their backpacks by a FAN advocate. Over the course of a 36 week school year, B4B will deliver 16,200 such totes to hungry children. These totes contain ten meal and snack items to help sustain children over the long weekend when food may be scarce or non-existent. We believe that proper nutrition is not only essential to a child’s healthy growth and development, but that it also plays a fundamental role in building resilience and ending the cycle of poverty. With COHC’s partnership, we are empowered to reduce childhood food-insecurity and ensure that fewer children in our local community will face a weekend of hunger.

A Smile for Kids (ASK)

2016-2019 RHIP

A Smile for Kids (ASK) strives to improve the quality of life for kids in our communities through its mission of “Empowering under Resourced Youth through Orthodontics, Education, and Community Service.” ASK has a specific focus on identifying and helping those kids that are suffering from ridicule and low self-esteem due to severely crooked teeth. While many consider orthodontic treatment, or “braces”, a cosmetic procedure, the daily reality for children with badly misaligned teeth is severe. Suffering from this condition can cause poor dental health, oral disease, constant physical pain, poor school attendance, and the absence of positive social-peer relationships. ASK removes the obstacle of crooked teeth while requiring all program recipients to perform monthly volunteer service and have their school grades to be in “good standing”; resulting in improved educational and job opportunities, and a current graduation rate of 96.3% for kids completing the program from 2014 through 2018.

Pathways from Developmental Screening to Services

2016-2019 RHIP

This project will provide system improvements to ensure that young children identified at-risk for developmental delay will receive best match follow-up services to prepare them for kindergarten. With analysis of current practice data, pathways to services and opportunities to increase capacity will be prioritized with identified regional implementation pilots to increase outcomes for children. Key partners include Mosaic Medical and Central Oregon Pediatric Associates (Primary Care partners), High Desert ESD Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education and community partners who facilitate referrals to primary care and Early Intervention including home visiting, relief nursery and early care and education partners. Technical assistance with data analysis and system improvement are provided by the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Project.

Healthy Kids and Provider Outreach

2016-2019 RHIP

Boost Oregon educates parents and the general public about the safety and benefits of children’s vaccines. We aim to increase the vaccination rates of Oregon’s children through community education. COHC’s support enables Boost Oregon to expand its programming to Central Oregon by training medical providers to host local workshops for parents; distributing our written materials throughout the region; and educating medical providers on communicating effectively with vaccine-hesitant parents. Knowledge is power, and Boost Oregon empowers parents to make the best decisions for their children’s health.

Fund a Friend

2016-2019 RHIP

Thanks to the support of COHC, Friends of the Children-Central Oregon (FOTCCO) will be able to provide children who have high levels of adverse childhood experiences with a professional mentor called a Friend over the next three years. Friend’s interactions with program youth are flexible and informal, but never random. Every school meeting, tutoring session, museum visit, and “hang out” session at the Clubhouse is designed to build resilience and help youth grow their nine “Core Assets.” The “Core Asset” initiative is a youth development strategy that focuses on the following areas: growth mindset, positive relationship building, finding your spark, problem solving, self-determination, self-management, perseverance/grit, hope, and belonging. “Road Maps” specifically assist Friends in tracking each child’s progress throughout the year in five areas; social and emotional learning, improved health, making positive choices, school success, and plans and skills for the future.

MOMS Program

2016-2019 RHIP

St. Charles Center for Women’s Health and BestCare Treatment Services collaborated to develop a program to improve the clinical outcomes for women with substance use disorder and their newborns. Our project has been to develop the partnerships, workflows, messaging and outreach approaches to successfully embed a SUD clinician in the clinic in order to build relationships and demonstrate engagement in services with the women who screen positive for a substance use disorder. The SUD clinician uses an Intentional Peer Support model to engage the women given their current motivation for change and life circumstances. Much of our preliminary work with them involves providing resources and emotional support. Our first process goal is to foster continued engagement with our outreach worker. Our second process goal is to increase the women’s follow-through with regular prenatal care. Our third process goal is to have the women engage in SUD treatment services. Personal, Social, and Economic Costs: Women who continue to use alcohol and other drugs while pregnant tend to have a severe Substance Use Disorder, have many psycho-social needs, creating high risk for multiple health and social problems for their unborn child. There is strong evidence showing that drug use during pregnancy leads to lower birth weight, shortened gestational period, and smaller size and smaller head circumference. This grant will allow us to help women and their family for the next 4 years.

Novel Interventions in Children’s Healthcare (NICH) Partnership in Central Oregon

2016-2019 RHIP

There is a group of children and adolescent with complex and chronic health conditions who struggle to access or benefit from existing health and behavioral care, resulting in poor quality of life, high family and provider stress, avoidable medical problems, and high healthcare costs. Many of these youth and families are already struggling with other social risks, such as poverty, housing insecurity, transportation difficulties, and mental health concerns. PacificSource Community Solutions, St. Charles Health System, and Oregon Health & Science University, in addition to Central Oregon Pediatric Associates and other community organizations, have partnered to adapt Novel Interventions in Children’s Healthcare (NICH) to effectively serve these children and adolescents in Central Oregon. NICH, an intensive home- and community-based skills building program, has been previously shown to improve health and care experience of youth in other regions, and a small pilot in Central Oregon suggested the largest benefits yet for referred youth and the healthcare system. The Central Oregon Health Council has provided support to better understand NICH outcomes in the region, to learn directly from families and providers about their experience of the program, to increase collaboration with and across existing community services, and to determine how this program can be financially sustainable in this region.

Clinic and Community Hypertension Control Presentations

2016-2019 RHIP

The Crook County Health Department was awarded a grant to help facilitate educational presentations regarding hypertension control in the Central Oregon region. The presentations will be given by Dr Mark Backus from Cascade Internal Medicine. Dr Backus is a board certified internist who has been nationally recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services for his success in helping his patients with hypertension control. Crook County will work with Dr Backus to schedule presentations through out the region in public and clinical settings.

Addressing Diet-Modifiable Diseases Through Improved Food Access in Crook And Deschutes Counties

2016-2019 RHIP

VeggieRx is a fresh produce prescription program that improves healthy eating habits for individuals experiencing food insecurity and diagnosed with diet-modifiable disease. This program aims to increase the access to and consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits by participants who receive vouchers for produce as well as nutrition education.

Health Careers Outreach

2016-2019 RHIP

With the generous support of Central Oregon Health Council (COHC), EC Works will co-invest in the creation of an Allied Health Careers Recruiter position at Central Oregon Community College. The three year, $90,000 grant from COHC will be matched $1:$1 by EC Works and will be aimed at increasing enrollment in COCC’s Allied Health Programs like Medical Assisting, Dental Assisting, Certified Nursing Assistant, and Health Information Technology programs, to meet local Health Care providers need for skilled workforce.

Regional Immunization Rate Improvement Project (AFIX)

2016-2019 RHIP

Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson County Public Health is excited to continue funding for the Assessment, Feedback, Incentives, and eXchange (AFIX) Immunization program. This is an evidence based program that supports our primary care clinic improve childhood immunization rates. An Immunization Champion for each clinic works to ensure that chosen strategies are implemented and progress is monitored. The Immunization Champions attend a meeting twice annually for the “eXchange” portion of the project to discuss successes, challenges and best practices for quality immunization services. The Immunization Coordinators from each county with Deschutes County will provide this program for the next three years.

Nutrition Education Program Volunteer Coordinator

2016-2019 RHIP

OSU Extension Nutrition Education Volunteer Program trains volunteers with evidenced-based information to deliver nutrition education. The trained volunteers will extend our nutrition education messaging to SNAP eligible adults at food pantries, community events and other adult education events. Volunteer education will increase food confidence in preparing healthy foods (according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans) and recipes (from foodhero.org) which will result in the increase and willingness for participants to try healthy foods and learn to shop on a budget. The funding provided for the Nutrition Education Volunteer Coordinator will be used to update training modules and evaluation, expand marketing/recruitment to reach potential volunteers and to create a system for volunteers to sign up for demonstrations/events. With these efforts, community outreach and education will increase in Central Oregon.

Nutrition Education Program Volunteer Coordinator

2016-2019 RHIP

These funds will help materialize three staff positions for the Homeless Leadership Coalition. As stable housing is a significant factor of health and well-being, we see this as the perfect partnership. The positions funded through this grant will help enhance the impact of the HLC’s ongoing efforts, the success of the Coordinated Entry System and increased housing placements for the most vulnerable Central Oregonians experiencing homelessness.

Ok to Play

2016-2019 RHIP

OK to Play encourages teens to have a comprehensive annual Well Child Visit with their primary care provider rather than a standalone sports physical in preparation for school sports and activities season. This program informs families that Well Child Visits include having conversations with teens to screen for depression, stress, anxiety and risky behaviors and are covered under most insurance products including OHP. The program also works with school districts in Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties to encourage families to take advantage of well child visits to receive both a higher standard of healthcare and necessary OSAA clearance documentation. OK to Play has a robust marketing program including television, radio, digital marketing, website and direct mailings throughout Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties. The Center Foundation is the lead organization responsible for OK to Play.

Blood Pressure Marketing Campaign

2016-2019 RHIP

Nearly half of all adults in America, or approximately 82,000 in Central Oregon, have high blood pressure. Due to the lack of symptoms, many of them do not even know it. This campaign is aimed at targeting all adults in Central Oregon, through a variety of communication channels, to elevate awareness about the importance of blood pressure and prompt people to take action by getting it tested. The campaign website will serve as a hub for testing locations, instructions for doing it yourself and information on interpreting the numbers and establishing care if needed. There will also be information on managing blood pressure through lifestyle modifications.

Multi-Generational Access to Health Project

2016-2019 RHIP

The generous support of Central Oregon Health Council will allow Healthy Beginnings to expand and deepen our scope of assessment for a multi-generational approach to caring for families. Healthy Beginnings will assess how parents and guardians are doing in their child’s early childhood years, and be an access point to education on resiliency and protective factors that help families thrive. Expanding assessment to include parents and guardians allows for Healthy Beginnings to initiate education with parents around the importance of self-care and protective factors. This project seeks to add adult and family referral resources, and the addition of a warm line parent support service that will provide trained parent peer support to all Healthy Beginnings families, regardless of an identified concern. Investment in this pilot project will allow the program to collect and share data with service providers, PCP’s, OSU Cascades, Better Together, HDESD and TRACEs for collective impact on supporting families in the tri-county.

Diabetes Best Practice Provider Education

2016-2019 RHIP

Dr. Albert Noyes, a local pharmacist, will host education sessions for Primary Care providers and their clinic staff, to help them better manage patients with Type 2 Diabetes. He will use best practice guidelines that are supported by the American Diabetes Association that focus on tailored selection of drug therapy and treatment goals specific to each patient’s needs. Dr. Noyes shares how to optimize drug therapy for patients based on effectiveness of the drugs, disease severity and insurance coverage. He also discusses which diabetes medications may contribute to better heart, kidney, eye, mouth and foot health. The lecture incorporates discussion of lifestyle factors and ways to connect patients with appropriate community resources. COIPA will work with Dr. Noyes to schedule presentations throughout the tri-county area in clinical settings.

Critical Home Repairs Survey in South Deschutes County

2016-2019 RHIP

Given general economic in south Deschutes County over the past several years, a growing number of disadvantaged homeowners have requested assistance for home repairs that are essential to their continuing occupancy of their homes. The demand for repairs related to health and safety conditions of homes has been increasing, but no systematic method has been available to assess the nature of and quantify the scope of critical repairs needed. This survey will help define the scope of repair needs among the population of low-income homeowners in the area. Based upon the survey findings, requests for third-party funding can then be tailored to the needs in the area today and can be updated on a continuing basis. Additionally, survey methods can be offered as a template for similar surveys that can be beneficial to other organizations serving housing needs in other areas in Central Oregon. Survey findings are expected to provide a real first look at where critical home repair needs are today and how repair needs that are met positively promote housing stability and security.

Pathways from Developmental Screening to Services (Phase II)

2016-2019 RHIP

This two year project supports community-level improvement efforts focusing on improving the receipt of services for young children identified at-risk for developmental and behavioral delay by addressing key indicators of need. Key Phase II activities include providing on-site training and support to early adopter Primary Care Partners – Mosaic Medical, Central Oregon Pediatric Associates and identification of two additional practices to advance improvement to follow-up to developmental screening; collaborative work with Early Intervention to improve education to referring providers on best match services and closed loop communications for children referred; development of pathways and processes for children specifically identified with social-emotional delays; develop pathways and processes for children who need medical and therapy services; provide proactive developmental promotion and behavioral health to build resiliency for children in socially complex families; and summarize key learning to inform spread and innovation across the region and to inform community level priorities. Technical assistance with data analysis and system improvement are provided by the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Project.

Perinatal Care Continuum Initiative Continuation

2016-2019 RHIP

Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson Counties, and the Central Oregon Health Council (COHC) collaborated to develop and implement a regional approach to a perinatal continuum of care. This project began in OCT 2016 and addresses goals identified in our Regional Health Improvement Plan to improve the health outcomes for women and babies. This project has provided a foundation for a regional referral system that includes: 1) Public Health care coordinators embedded in specific obstetrics provider clinics as well as local Health Departments, providing enrollment and linkages to community resources; 2) Expanded nurse home visiting services for our perinatal women; and 3) Regional coordination and data reporting of the perinatal women served by this project.

Central Oregon FUSE – Permanent Supportive Housing Project

2016-2019 RHIP

Central Oregon FUSE (Frequent Users System Engagement) is bringing the Housing First model to the Central Oregon region and developing an optimal service delivery model and partnerships to address the needs of the high-risk homeless population. We plan to launch a Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) project, using Housing First principles, for our chronically homeless frequent users of public services (health care and law enforcement). We aim to bring improved health and stability to our target population and develop a viable model that, while starting in Bend, can ultimately be replicated in other Central Oregon communities. The funds received from Central Oregon Health Council will support two FUSE staff positions as well as wraparound services support for our residents.

Affordable Homeownership Database

2016-2019 RHIP

Kor has onboarded our homeownership management database, HomeKeeper, and has had 3-hours of training from a HomeKeeper professional to learn how to use and customize it. We have also successfully created online forms for our program’s pre-application and application. These forms are accessed through our website and help us track many of the measurables listed in our proposal. Our next step is creating the intake and exit survey forms for our homeowners that track the remaining measurables listed in our proposal. Thank you Central Oregon Health Council!

Hamlets Meth Remediation

2016-2019 RHIP

Following the closure of Kah-nee-ta Resort & Spa in September 2018, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs became the managing authority for the resort property including a 50-unit apartment complex (which had been used primarily for employees) known as “The Hamlets.” Initial testing for the presence of methamphetamine revealed a significant percentage of the units (over 50%) showed at least some evidence of meth contamination. The next step is to perform a second, more rigorous level of testing, to determine the exact level of contamination which will help determine the full mitigation costs for cleanup or rehabilitation and help prioritize which units can be turned over and rented again most quickly. Funding has been provided for this second level of testing and minimal mitigation of some “low level” contamination units. Warm Springs has agreed to provide funding and personnel time to carry out actual cleanup and mitigation. The project will be considered a success when they have a plan on all 50 units and all the “low level” contaminated units are back available for rent to tribal members.

Jefferson County Faith Based Network – Executive Director Position

2016-2019 RHIP

Jefferson County Faith Based Network is committed to informing and transforming our community through Christian compassion. The Jefferson County Faith-Based Network is a 501(c)3 organization which administers seven unique events, programs, and projects in Jefferson County: Jefferson County Winter Shelter, L.I.N.C., Community Food Network, Jobs for Life, Our Community Event, the annual Community Worship Service, and the monthly network meeting. Each program addresses a community need in an intentional and unique way. As all of the programs have experienced success and grown over the years, the workload has grown. In order to continue providing excellence in the programs and services, the all-volunteer board of directors acknowledged the need for a paid executive director. The grant funds will be used to provide the executive director’s salary. It is anticipated that a full-time executive director will increase the organization’s presence in the community, bolster the volunteers’ effectiveness, provide consistent administrative oversight of the organization, and free-up the board of directors to work on long-term planning and visioning. It is also anticipated that the donor base will be greatly expanded with an executive director who can dedicate a significant portion of time to networking in the community and exploring various funding opportunities.

Living Well Central Oregon

2016-2019 RHIP

Living Well Central Oregon coordinates evidence-based self management programs, originally developed at Stanford University, in all communities across the tri-county region. Living Well workshops are 6 weeks long and focus on learning strategies and behaviors that help individuals better manage their chronic conditions, in order to maximize their quality of life. LWCO delivers workshops specific to Diabetes and Chronic Pain, as well as a general Chronic Conditions class. This project is a collaborative effort across healthcare and community organizations throughout Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson Counties.

The projects below have been awarded funding by the Central Oregon Health Council (COHC) to improve the overall health of Central Oregonians. COHC funds projects whose outcomes align with the current Regional Health Improvement Plan (RHIP).

P.I.R.S. Youth Sports Programs

Media Campaign to Reduce Binge Drinking Among 18-34 Year Olds

2020-2024 RHIP

Upstream Healthy Retail Community Assessment for Central Oregon

2020-2024 RHIP

Central Oregon STI/HIV Prevention Public Health Collaborative

2020-2024 RHIP

Rural Training Improvement Initiative

2020-2024 RHIP

SCHS/OHSU Psychiatry Residency Program

2020-2024 RHIP

Consultation to Sustain Central Oregon Peer Services in Substance & Alcohol Misuse Settings

2020-2024 RHIP

Peer Support Services

2020-2024 RHIP

Live-In Peer Mentor Wage Support

2020-2024 RHIP

Central Oregon Regional Childhood Immunization Rate Quality Improvement Project

2020-2024 RHIP

Increasing Qualified Peer Support at the Cascade Peer and Self-Help Center

2020-2024 RHIP

The Healthy Eating and Food Insecurity Produce Voucher Program

2020-2024 RHIP

Media Campaign Promoting Intended Pregnancy

2020-2024 RHIP

Improving Access to Fresh Local Foods

2020-2024 RHIP

Asset-Limited Income-Constrained Employed Lived Experience Listening Sessions

2020-2024 RHIP

Satellite Food Pantry

2020-2024 RHIP

SriPonya School of Recovery

2020-2024 RHIP

Beef for Food Banks and Community Kitchens

2020-2024 RHIP

Peer Resource and Infrastructure for Central Oregon MAT Program

2020-2024 RHIP

Feeding Families: Community Table Project

2020-2024 RHIP

Craig’s Compassionate Cafe

2020-2024 RHIP

Let’s Be Active and Eat More Fruits and Veggies with OSU Extension Service

2020-2024 RHIP

Learning Good Health Habits Early in Life to Prevent Chronic Disease

2020-2024 RHIP

Resilience and Belonging Measure

2020-2024 RHIP

Creciendo Girasoles (Growing Sunflowers) 2.0

2020-2024 RHIP

Fruits & Vegetables for Kids

2020-2024 RHIP

Rx to Move

2020-2024 RHIP

Increasing Continuum Capacity in the Effort to End Homelessness

2020-2024 RHIP

Central Oregon Assessment of Factors Contributing to Binge Drinking Among 18- to 34-Year-Olds

2020-2024 RHIP

Advancing Integrated Care: Timely Access and Engagement Metric Development

2020-2024 RHIP

Reach Out and Read

2020-2024 RHIP

Creciendo Girasoles (Growing Sunflowers)

2020-2024 RHIP

Juntos Aprendemos (Expansion)

2020-2024 RHIP

Permanent Supportive Housing Development

2020-2024 RHIP

Advancing Literacy Acquisition in the Early Years through Evidence-Based Practices

2020-2024 RHIP

Crook County School District Graduation Equity Improvement Project

2020-2024 RHIP

Impacting Graduation Rates through Student and Family Engagement

2020-2024 RHIP

Improving Graduation Rates for Jefferson County Youth

2020-2024 RHIP

Central Oregon Regional Housing Council

2020-2024 RHIP

Improving High School Graduation Rates Through Culturally Specific College Preparation

2020-2024 RHIP

Consultation to Sustain Central Oregon Peer Services
in Substance & Alcohol Misuse Settings

Central Oregon Regional Childhood Immunization Rate
Quality Improvement Project

Central Oregon Assessment of Factors Contributing to Binge Drinking
Among 18- to 34-Year-Olds

Improving High School Graduation Rates Through Culturally Specific
College Preparation

Restorative Justice & Equity: Practices to Raise Student Retention
and Graduation Rates

Addressing SDoH in Central Oregon with a Community Resource
Referral Platform