The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, which serves as the Northern California regional lead for the California Department of Social Services’ (CDSS) Stop the Hate (STH) Program, was one of six cohosts for the first-ever Stop the Hate convening at The California Endowment in Los Angeles October 9-10, 2023.
The two-day event welcomed more than 300 representatives from community-based organizations tackling hate across California with funding support from STH. Speakers included Joel Gemino (Equality CA), Laila Aziz (Pillars of the Community), Don Han (Groundswell), Lisa Fu (CA Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative), Reena Hajat Carroll (CA Conference on Equality and Justice), Deep Singh (Jakara), Julia Liou (Asian Health Services), Miriam Mesa (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights) and Bayanne Kanawati (Council on American-Islamic Relations), who all spoke to the importance of cross-racial collaboration to drive transformative change.
CDSS director Kim Johnson noted in opening remarks that, in the year since the program’s launch, over 14,000 people have been served through direct services and over two million were reached through prevention and intervention services.
“It is inspiring to witness community organizations make long-lasting connections and actively strategize towards the future,” she concluded.
The event was co-hosted by CDSS, The Center and the regional leads from other parts of the state, including AAPI Equity Alliance (Los Angeles County), Asian Health Services (Bay Area and Central Coast), Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (Orange County and Inland Empire) and Catalyst of San Diego and Imperial Counties (San Diego and Imperial Counties).
Earlier this year, The Center was allocated an additional $1.5 million from CDSS to providing training resources and grants to community based organizations addressing racially motivated hate crimes throughout Northern California and the San Joaquin Valley.