WHO WE ARE
Umoja Health Partners are Community Coalitions initially formed to address the COVID-19 and health-related needs of underserved communities of color in the Bay Area. After taking on COVID-19 testing and vaccination under a new model of community led care delivery, we are expanding our scope to address the burden of cancer, other chronic diseases and unmet social needs that have left communities of color especially vulnerable during the pandemic.
“WE SERVED THE COMMUNITY WHEN NO ONE ELSE COULD OR WANTED TO. THAT’S HOW UMOJA HEALTH WAS BORN…IN UNITY WITH COMMUNITY. For Us, By Us.”
- UMOJA HEALTH FOUNDER, KIM RHOADS, MD, MS, MPH, FACS
OUR STORY
In 2020, Umoja Health was conceived by and out of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center’s (HDFCCC) Community Advisory Board (CAB). The CAB was formed in 2005 and is one of the country’s oldest cancer center CABs. The CAB’s ability to link UCSF to the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD), The Brotherhood of Elders Network, The Oakland Frontline Healers and Roots Community Health Center accelerated the development of the coalition.
Support from Bay Area Phlebotomy Lab Services, the Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub and the Unidos En Salud/United in Health initiative facilitated the expansion of no barrier COVID-10 testing delivered by community to a new branch of United in Health in the East Bay, dubbed Umoja Health by the key stakeholders. Our effectiveness in reaching neighbors who were largely disconnected from traditional health care prompted ACPHD to grant Umoja Health, a community-led coalition, our own allocation of COVID-19 vaccine.
The purpose of Umoja Health is to amplify voices of community and to hold public health and healthcare institutions accountable for advancing health equity. Umoja Health is built on a foundation of the trusted relationships built over the past 17 years, between the HDFCCC, the CAB and the broad network of community stakeholders across the Bay Area and beyond.
UMOJA IN THE NEWS
San Francisco Chronicle
An epidemic the health care industry is still trying to cure.
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PALO ALTO ONLINE
‘Radical Convenience’ spurs East Palo Alto Vaccination Push
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KQED
UCSF Doctor Challenges Reports of High COVID-19 Rates in Black Community
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KALW PODCAST : WHAT WORKS
Umoja Health's Pop-Up Clinics Prove That Home Is Where The Healing Is
LISTEN TO THE EPISODE
HARVARD PUBLIC HEALTH
Showing Up For The Underserved
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Most of the images used on this site are courtesy of the community.