Established in 2020, Three Valleys Community Foundation (3VCF) works to strengthen the Tri-Valley region and beyond, through inclusive leadership, thoughtful funding, informed giving, and collaborative action. The nonprofit partners with donors who care about the community and connects them with impactful local organizations to make a real difference to the communities it serves in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. 3VCF became a Hacienda tenant in the fourth quarter of 2021.

In August, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors selected 3VCF to administer $3 million in Opioid Settlement Innovative Mini-Grant Program funds to groups within the county. Working closely with the Behavioral Health Department of Alameda County Health, 3VCF will invest the resources in organizations across the county offering prevention programming as well as opioid addiction treatment and overdose reversal. The grant amounts will vary, up to a total of $300,000 each. The grant application process opens soon. Awards will be announced this winter. The grant implementation window will take place over a 12- to 14-month period beginning in 2025.

“Our local communities are uniquely positioned to lead the County’s efforts to end the opioid crisis,” according Dr. George Ayala, Deputy Director, Public Health Department, Alameda County Health. “They bear witness daily to the fallout and hold intimate knowledge of the most effective pathways to recovery and resilience. This work is not possible without communities in the lead.”

“Health disparities among Alameda County residents are multifaceted and complex,” notes Kelly Bowers, 3VCF’s CEO and President. “Our commitment is to award grants that offer innovative, community-based solutions and high impact abatement activities that help guide harm reduction, treatment, and recovery options to ameliorate the opioid crisis.”

3VCF will prioritize organizations providing direct services to those identified as statistically most impacted by opioids. Those groups include sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations, vulnerable youth, incarcerated individuals, disproportionately impacted men, and underrepresented groups in communities of color that face barriers to opioid treatment. The grant focus is based on feedback from community and stakeholder listening sessions held by the Behavioral Health Department in 2023.

The Alameda County Healthcare Services Agency has identified several alarming statistical trends. Opioid overdoses and opioid poisoning make up the largest number of drug deaths in Alameda County; cases have been steadily and dramatically increasing since 2017. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States. People experiencing homelessness account for about 30 percent of all overdose deaths. Overdose deaths and opioid-related hospitalizations are disproportionately higher among communities of color, especially African American/Black individuals, incarcerated people, and men. During the pandemic, opioid overdose death rates increased by 44 percent among Black Americans.

“Community Foundations are uniquely designed to assist the greatest of needs in our region and those community members most at risk,” says John Sensiba, 3VCF Board Chair. “We appreciate the opportunity and responsibility to administer and guide this important work for Alameda County.”

“We are incredibly pleased to have this opportunity for partnership with 3VCF to ensure that our efforts cultivate innovative, pragmatic, and community driven strategies,” according to Dr. Karyn L. Tribble, Director of Alameda County Behavioral Health Department. “We are intentionally looking to work collectively as a system to address the opioid crisis with the hope that these efforts will yield solutions that are both reflective of the diversity of need across Alameda County and also represent promising practices that are worthy of long-term investment.”

For more information about Three Valleys Community Foundation, please visit www.3vcf.org.

For more information about the Alameda County Opioid Settlement Innovative Mini-Grant Program, please visit www.3vcf.org/nonprofits/innovative-mini-grants.