Located at 1970 University Avenue, CA 92507, the Eastside Health Center stands as a core anchor of quality low cost medical and dental care for the underserved and uninsured within Riverside’s eastside neighborhood. Once a problematic area with regard to crime, blithe, and poverty rates, the eastside has been the focal point of the city’s more recent efforts to improve and renovate it, making it simultaneously safer and more appealing to both residents and visitors. The Riverside Community Health Foundation has for the past 7 years now been a precursor of such positive social reconstruction through the clinical services provided at the Eastside Health Center. In partnership with Community Health Systems, Inc., a federally qualified service provider, 9,720 medical patient visits and 4,343 dental patient visits were provided to the eastside communities during 2007. As a community-based facility, the Eastside Health Center maintains vital connections with the populations it served through both the Eastside Community Health Partnership, a network of 55 non-profit agencies, schools, faith-based organizations, public health programs and community residents, and its Community Health Fair and Easter Egg Hunt, held annually at the Cesar Chavez Community Center, welcoming in 2007 over 55 agencies/vendors and some 2,000 visitors. The accessibility of its location to those it seeks to serve, as well as the approachability of the dedicated medical and dental staff make the Eastside Health Center a locus of health improvement within the eastside community.

Almost 2 years in operation, the Mark T. Williams Arlanza Family Health Center, situated at 8856 Arlington Ave., Riverside, CA 92503, is a stellar example of helping communities that help themselves. While 8,341 medical patient visits, 2,464 dental patient visits, and 502 vision patient visits were provided to area residents in 2007, the Center is also a hub of community driven health education initiatives. Capitalizing on venues establishing tightly knit collaborative efforts between highly motivated community leaders on one hand, and health educators and clinical service providers on the other, the Mark T. Williams Arlanza Family Health Center is a test-case of effective health partnership. The center is home-base to RCHF’s Promotoras outreach staff and its Teen Programs, as well as the Arlanza’s women’s advisory group known as M.A.S (Mujeres Activas en la Salud-Women Active in Health). Health partnerships through the above entities articulate RCHF’s philosophy that health improvements are best achieved when secured through vested individuals and entities embedded within the targeted populations, whose commitment to health education vehicles back to families and extended circles of influence the essential health information necessary to raise their health status. The benefits of informative Health Workshops, Food and Nutrition Programs, Exercise Classes, and Youth Initiatives are sure to trickle back through multiple layers of connections to ensure maximum health impact.