National Health Foundation

National Health Foundation’s mission is to improve the health of individuals and under-resourced communities by taking action on the social determinants of health. The organization’s vision is that all people, regardless of who they are or where they live, can achieve their highest level of health. 

Founded by HASC in 1973, National Health Foundation is a nonprofit that works within underserved Southern California communities to identify and advance solutions that remove barriers and promote health for all. NHF embraces a guiding philosophy that health begins where we live, learn, work and play.

A community’s health is determined in part by access to social and economic opportunities; the resources and supports available in our homes, neighborhoods, and communities; the quality of our schooling; the safety of our workplaces; the cleanliness of our water, food, and air; and the nature of our social interactions and relationships.

NHF works hand-in-hand with communities, tackling these conditions in which we live and righting the wrongs of health disparities. Within the community, its focus is on empowering individuals to make choices that allow them to live a long, healthy life, regardless of their income, education or ethnic background. The organization is also developing young leaders, changing the physical and social landscape of vulnerable neighborhoods, and lifting up communities. 

NHF also makes connections between existing resources and builds sustainability into its programs so it’s not the sole champion of an effort. 

Using these strategies, NHF creates and deploys critical programs that are changing the way neighborhoods can access healthy foods, enabling individuals to safely exercise without using their financial resources, shifting the level of expectations teen mothers set for themselves, their academics and their futures – and improving individuals’ chances of staying healthy by connecting them to a home.