Funding provided to RCAC to expand its Agua4All program in rural California

West Sacramento, Calif. –Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) received $10,000 from the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund to expand the Agua4All program to communities in the Porterville School District in Tulare County. This innovative program increases access to and consumption of safe drinking water in California’s low-income rural areas, where such access is often limited.

RCAC joins 57 other grantees, which received more than $1 million in total to address disparities and factors that affect health in the San Joaquin Valley Such factors include food security, air quality, clean drinking water, housing, health care, education, employment, immigrant rights, domestic violence, open space, neighborhood safety and other health outcome drivers, through capacity building, systems change and community engagement.

“We are grateful to receive this support from the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund to support our Agua4All efforts in the Valley. With large numbers of dry wells in the East Porterville area in particular this area needs greater access to safe drinking water, and we are pleased to be part of the solution,” said Stanley Keasling, RCAC’s chief executive officer.

The grant funds will allow RCAC to purchase water bottles that will be distributed to students in Farmersville and Porterville; support outreach to educate residents on the health benefits of drinking water; and break down existing community barriers to water consumption.

Both city councils and school district boards in Porterville and Farmersville are eager to participate in the Agua4All program, and to encourage water consumption to improve the communities’ health, youth in particular.

The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund was launched in 2014 with initial support from Sierra Health Foundation and The California Endowment. The Fund has evolved into a seven-foundation partnershipincluding, Sierra Health Foundation, The California Endowment, Rosenberg Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation and Wallace H. Coulter Foundation.

For more information about the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund, please visit the Center for Health Program Management’s web site.

Founded in 1978, RCAC provides training, technical and financial resources and advocacy so rural communities can achieve their goals and visions. RCAC serves rural communities in 13 western states and the Pacific islands. To find out more about RCAC, visit www.rcac.org.

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