Guilds Center for Community Health
The Guilds Center for Community Health is the first of its kind in the Central Valley. It was established to help bridge the exceptional care kids receive within the Valley Children's network and the health impacts children experience where they live, learn and play.
Valley Children’s recognizes that the health of our kids is impacted by social determinants -- the conditions that influence health and quality of life -- including physical environment, health behaviors, economic status, poverty and racism. According to research, of all the factors that influence our health, only 20% are linked to the clinical care we receive – and 80% are related to these social determinants.
The Guilds Center for Community Health is an investment in that 80%.
Our mission, vision and guiding principles
The vision of the Guilds Center for Community Health is to transform the health and well-being of children where they live, learn and play. Our mission is to equitably improve the health and well-being of children by building capacity through partnerships, programs and community development.
The following principles will guide our work in transforming the health and well-being of children:
- Improving health: We will work to influence policy, systems and environmental changes to impact the social determinants of health* and advance health equity and outcomes.
- Aligning efforts: We will elevate community health by aligning our work with existing clinical and community-based efforts at Valley Children’s.
- Collaborating with partners: We will facilitate, convene and collaborate with partners.
- Data-driven: We will utilize data to assess the impact of our work and to further identify gaps and needs of kids.
- Community informed: Our work will be informed by our communities across the region.
- Building capacity: We will identify projects that can be replicated regionally and aim to build capacity.
- Sustained effort: We recognize that the work of the Center is generational work and will be a long-term commitment.
*Social determinants of health (SDOH) are conditions in the places where people live, learn, work and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of life-risks and outcomes
Our Impact: FY2024 Annual Report
This annual report is intended to capture the work of the Guilds Center for Community Health for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024. It provides a high-level overview of our accomplishments, lessons learned, opportunities for improvement and plans for FY25 and beyond.
Read the report