As healthcare rules shifted and uncertainty spread, Community Health Initiative helped thousands of Napa County residents maintain coverage—and used Safety Net Fund support to build a stronger future.
Every community depends on organizations that quietly help people through life’s hardest moments. But what happens when those organizations face a crisis of their own?
Last year, as public funding shifted and healthcare rules changed almost monthly, Community Health Initiative (CHI) found itself helping more families navigate uncertainty, all while facing its own.
For CHI’s clients,, this was a period of confusion and worry. Affordable Care Act subsidies ended. Insurance premiums rose sharply — by as much as thousands of dollars a year for some families. Eligibility rules changed suddenly. Misinformation spread fast. For many of our community’s immigrants and mixed-status families, uncertainty about health insurance gave way to uncertainty about whether it was safe to even ask for help.
As the only Napa County nonprofit licensed to enroll people in Covered California, CHI helps thousands of families access and maintain healthcare each year.
Thanks to a grant from our Elaine Jones Safety Net Fund — $100,000 for general operating support and $40,000 for capacity building — CHI kept its experienced enrollment team intact through a turbulent year, served clients without interruption, and began laying the groundwork for a stronger future.
“The big thing for us was just to be stable and able to maintain our services in order to respond to the needs of our clients.” — Elba Gonzalez-Mares, Executive Director
That stability mattered, and it’s exactly what the general operating support grant we gave them was designed to offer.
“Any staff we would lose is a direct impact to people not being served,” Gonzalez-Mares said. “With everything that’s happening, it could feel like no one wants to help. That’s not the message we want to give.”
Because CHI kept its entire expert enrollment team in place through the busy open-enrollment window, thousands of Napa County residents were able to navigate shifting policies and rising costs; and despite higher premiums, more people renewed their coverage than CHI expected, because clients knew exactly where to turn.
“Timing matters for health insurance,” says Health Services Manager Linda Acevedo Benson. “Because of this funding, we have the staff and the capacity, so people don’t have to wait a month for coverage and delay the care they need.”
Our capacity-building grant allowed CHI to do something nonprofits rarely have time for: step back and plan for the future. Through interviews with clients, staff, and Board members, CHI developed a three-year strategic plan shaped by the voices of the people it serves, and forged in the furnace of the current moment.
“This strategic plan is created by the voices of our clients, because we had the time to talk to them,” Acevedo Benson says.
That work is already paying off. CHI is pursuing new revenue streams modelled after the for-profit insurance industry that will help sustain its work even as public funding contracts are not renewing.
“It’s a super rare gift,” Gonzalez-Mares says. “To have funds to focus on that kind of strategy — you can build a future, you can see the plan for the future, and be hopeful for the future.”
New Medi-Cal work requirements, CalFresh changes, and a rollback of the asset limit for seniors are already on the horizon — each a potential source of confusion and difficult choices for the families CHI serves. But thanks to a year of stability and a plan for what comes next, CHI is prepared to continue to help Napa County families navigate whatever comes their way.
Why the Elaine Jones Safety Net Fund Matters
The Elaine Jones Safety Net Fund was created by Napa Valley Community Foundation to help Napa County nonprofits continue providing essential services during a period of rising demand, increasing costs, and uncertain public funding.
In its first year, the Fund invested $1.65 million in 15 local organizations through a combination of flexible operating support and capacity-building grants – helping nonprofits serve today’s needs while preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.
Learn more or support the Fund at napavalleycf.org/safetynet.