About Desert Healthcare Foundation
To improve health access and outcomes for all District residents through strategic funding and partnership-building to advance resilient communities.
Focus Areas
Primary careSpecialty careBehavioral and mental healthCommunity health and wellnessSocial determinants of health (housing, homelessness, poverty)Environmental health (air and water quality)Grantee capacity building and evaluation
Who They Fund
individuals/families seeking social servicespeople needing help affording medicationsclients in crisis/emergency situations
Funding Style
About Desert Healthcare Foundation
Desert Healthcare Foundation’s recent grantmaking centers on access to care in the Coachella Valley, including support for street medicine, behavioral health coordination, and services for underinsured residents. One district grant supported the CSU San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus Street Medicine Program, tying mobile health outreach directly to primary care access. Another major initiative is the Behavioral Health Collective Fund, which is designed to strengthen behavioral and mental health access through coordination, workforce expansion, education, and school-based services. The foundation also maintains a Social Services Fund that helps District residents with emergent healthcare needs, especially when hospital case managers are working with patients who need screening, diagnostic, or treatment-related assistance. Its portfolio shows a strong mix of direct service support and systems-level health access work, with grants reaching community health organizations, clinics, and local service providers. The foundation’s stated aim is to improve health access and outcomes for District residents through strategic funding and partnership-building to advance resilient communities.
What Desert Healthcare Foundation Funds
Behavioral and mental health is a clear priority. The Behavioral Health Collective Fund is structured to improve access through a collective-impact framework, backbone coordination, workforce expansion, education, stigma reduction, school-based services, and community health worker programs. In primary care, the foundation backed the CSU San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus Street Medicine Program, which brings care through mobile health services. It also supported DPMG Health medical clinic unit operations, showing attention to clinic capacity as well as outreach. Social services are another major thread: the Social Services Fund has historically provided financial help for emergent healthcare needs for underinsured and uninsured District residents, with hospital case managers using it for screening, diagnostic, and treatment-related support. The foundation also funded homelessness-related collaboration through its Collaborative to End Homelessness initiative.
How Desert Healthcare Foundation Gives
Typical grants fall at $25,000 at the 25th percentile, $65,000 at the median, and $181,650 at the 75th percentile. The recent list includes both repeated recipients and one-time awards, including multiple years of support for organizations such as Dap Health Inc, Riverside County Latino Comm, and Clinicas De Salud Del Pueblo. The foundation is a grantmaking organization rather than an operating charity, and it does not make program-related investments or fund individuals. It accepts unsolicited proposals for several active programs, including expanded-area funding and specific health initiatives.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.8M
Total Assets
$6.1M
Total Revenue
$1.1M
Total Expenses
$1.5M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $25K and $182K, with a median of $65K.
25th Percentile
$25K
Median
$65K
75th Percentile
$182K
Geographic Reach
Local2 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
CHRIS CHRISTENSEN
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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