As I reflect on 2024, I am filled with gratitude.
This was a big year for the foundation:
- We launched a new strategic plan – continuing to push for coverage expansion and funding for community health workers, and creating an advisory committee to help us begin a new focus on maternal health equity.
- We celebrated our 25th anniversary (you can see highlights from our event here), reflecting on how far our state has come and what work lies ahead.
- We deepened relationships with longtime partners and made new connections among those working to advance health equity. We are fortunate to be entering the new year with such a tremendous group of collaborators.
Many of us end the year with concerns about what lies ahead. We anticipate that the environment will be tougher for efforts to make our communities and the policies that govern them fairer for everyone. After years of gains in health care coverage, there is a risk that policy changes at the federal or state level could lead more people to become uninsured or to have less access to care. Some of our partners fear for their safety and their ability to remain with their families in the communities they call home.
While there is much we don’t yet know, one thing is clear: Our priorities will not change. We know we will need to be flexible and responsive to support those working on health equity in our state. We will be listening, learning, and responding.
The past year helped us build the structures we will need to be prepared for what lies ahead. We stand with everyone working to make our state and our country a more equitable place and to ensure that everyone, regardless of race and ethnicity, has the ability to live their healthiest lives.
I hope you will find time in the coming weeks to rest, recharge, and do something you love with the people you love. There is so much to do in 2025. We look forward to continuing to work toward health equity together.
Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year!
Tiffany