UCSF, the Oakland Unified School District, and an array of community-based partners are embarking on a quest to improve the lives of disadvantaged middle-school students, thanks to a $1.75 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies.
The three-year award to UCSF’s Elev8 Healthy Students and Families project will allow faculty and students from UCSF’s schools of nursing and dentistry to provide a new, integrated model for delivering primary health and dental care to children at five Oakland middle schools.
The project also will increase health education and expose middle school youth and their families to health careers.
“Good health is fundamental to children reaching their full potential in school and in life and so our UCSF Elev8 Healthy Students and Families project dovetails perfectly with the work of our partners,” said lead applicant, Linda Franck, RN, PhD, chair of the Department of Family Health Care Nursing at UCSF.
The community partners in the project include: Safe Passages, Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, the Oakland Unified School District, community federally qualified health clinics La Clinica de la Raza, Lifelong Medical Care and Native American Health Center. The UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies is a partner in the evaluation of the project outcomes.