Health Projects Center Receives Operating Support Grant from Community Foundation Santa Cruz County
- Health Projects Center
- May 28
- 2 min read
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Santa Cruz, CA — May 28, 2025 — Health Projects Center (HPC) is honored to receive a generous operating support grant from the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. This critical funding will help advance HPC’s mission to support older adults, caregivers, and healthcare professionals throughout Santa Cruz County, building a community where people can age with dignity, independence, and health at home.
With Foundation funds, HPC aims to continue creating a community where aging individuals thrive. These resources will directly benefit low-income older adults, hardworking family caregivers, and frontline healthcare professionals, furthering a vision of equitable, compassionate care across our region.
Deep Roots in Community Health and Aging
Health Projects Center makes a difference by:
Providing hands-on care management to low-income, medically frail older adults, many of whom face daily living challenges and require assistance with using the bathroom, bathing, and eating. Most have complex medical and social issues and frequent emergency room visits or hospitalizations.
Supporting unpaid family caregivers who are the backbone of long-term care in Santa Cruz County. These caregivers provide over 80% of care, often while working full-time jobs and caregiving another 40 hours per week.
Training healthcare professionals to improve access and quality of care in rural and underserved communities, addressing a regional shortage of primary care providers as designated by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
The impact is also economic: diverting just 65 individuals from institutional care, where the average annual cost of a semi-private skilled nursing room in California is $145,212, can save families and the government nearly $9 million each year, equivalent to HPC’s annual operating budget.
Ambitious Goals, Grounded in Community
This funding will allow Health Projects Center to pursue key strategic goals, including:
Expanding care management programs to serve more low-income individuals
Growing caregiver support services to reach more family caregivers and care recipients
Investing in mobile workforce technologies to support efficient, client-centered service delivery
Extending programs into rural and underserved areas
“Health Projects Center serves ALL members of the Santa Cruz County community,” said John Beleutz, Executive Director of Health Projects Center. "Funds from the Foundation support our team to serve people in need, wherever they live."
About Health Projects Center
Health Projects Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has supported Californians living and aging safely at home since 1980. We deliver high-quality services and programs focused on care management, caregiver support, and workforce development. Serving Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, and Merced Counties, Health Projects Center empowers individuals and families to navigate the challenges of aging with dignity and confidence. We envision a community where people live and age in place with health and dignity.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Bailey Faustina
Communications and Development Manager
Health Projects Center
(800) 624-8304
