2020 Annual Report

A Letter From our Board Chair & CEO

Dear Friends:

The Paso del Norte Health Foundation marked its 25th anniversary in 2020 with the hope of celebrating this milestone with founders, board members, staff, grantees, partners, stakeholders, and friends. Plans for a celebration, however, were short-lived as COVID-19 struck our community. On our website (PdNHF.org), we published our two-and-a-half-decade history of promoting health and preventing disease, and we turned our attention to the immediate needs of the region – helping to address a life-threatening infectious disease while continuing our work preventing chronic disease.

Our strength and resilience over the last year, as it has been since our inception, is rooted in our core values of leadership, integrity, inclusion, stewardship, and collaboration with hundreds of partners and grantees. 2020 underscored our collective ability to face difficult circumstances with dignity and grace. We came together with endurance, resilience and community to respond, support, invest, and grow.

Dear Friends:

The Paso del Norte Health Foundation marked its 25th anniversary in 2020 with the hope of celebrating this milestone with founders, board members, staff, grantees, partners, stakeholders, and friends. Plans for a celebration, however, were short-lived as COVID-19 struck our community. On our website (PdNHF.org), we published our two-and-a-half-decade history of promoting health and preventing disease, and we turned our attention to the immediate needs of the region – helping to address a life-threatening infectious disease while continuing our work preventing chronic disease.

Our strength and resilience over the last year, as it has been since our inception, is rooted in our core values of leadership, integrity, inclusion, stewardship, and collaboration with hundreds of partners and grantees. 2020 underscored our collective ability to face difficult circumstances with dignity and grace. We came together with endurance, resilience and community to respond, support, invest, and grow.

COVID-19 Immediate Response

In the early days of the pandemic, the Health Foundation published two online resources: epcovid19.org and juarezcovid19.com and ran a weekly e-newsletter to provide timely and factual information on COVID-19.
In partnership with the City of El Paso, we produced multiple public service announcements. Chico, the UTEP Miner mascot and other beloved mascots across El Paso helped promote mask wearing and physical distancing.
Desperately needed personal protection equipment was purchased for Ciudad Juárez and the El Paso County Medical Society.
Investments in the PHIX Health Information Exchange were made to ensure that medical providers could easily access COVID-19 test results and rely on a new volunteer EPMedCorp.
The Health Foundation partnered with the Paso del Norte Community Foundation and the United Way of El Paso County to establish and make grants from the COVID-19 Response Fund to support nonprofit organizations serving on the frontlines of the pandemic including homeless shelters, food banks/pantries, and social service organizations.
Leveraging a long-fostered partnership with the County of El Paso, UTEP, and Texas A&M, a group of more than 60 promotoras were engaged to share health and community resources through the “Reduce the Risk” campaign.
Health Foundation staff also participated in numerous committees and task forces to support a more cohesive pandemic response.

COVID-19 Recovery Preparedness, and Transformation

Looking past immediate needs and short-term responses, the Health Foundation designed and launched a COVID-19 Recovery, Preparedness, and Transformation program.
Thirty-five nonprofit organizations were awarded $3.5 million to help recover from the pandemic, prepare for future waves or crises, and transform organizations.
Online sessions and board coaching services were offered as nonprofits experienced disruptions and opportunities for transformation.

Priority Area Grantmaking & Collaboration

Grantmaking and collaborative efforts continued, although modified, in five health priority areas.
As part of our twenty-two-year-old Smoke Free Paso del Norte initiative, the YMCA of El Paso and members of the Smoke Free Coalition launched a popular anti-vaping awareness campaign.
We partnered with the City of El Paso to successfully secure funding to complete connections in the 8.3-mile Playa Drain Trail.
We continued grantmaking to organizations such as Texas A&M, Kelly Memorial Food Pantry, and La Semilla Food Center to promote healthy eating and active living.
Working with the United Way and BOOST Network, we helped out-of-school time youth service providers transition to virtual programming with grants to organizations like Creative Kids in El Paso, the Boys and Girls Club in Las Cruces, as well as FEMAP and Organización Popular Independiente (OPI) in Ciudad Juárez.
We completed a Diabetes Assessment and awarded the first of a portfolio of diabetes grants to the El Paso Diabetes Association, El Paso Children’s Hospital, and the Health Information Exchange.
We partnered with the United Way offering the REALIZE Board Leadership program virtually to hundreds of nonprofit board members.
We continued our leadership support for the new Texas Tech Hunt School of Dental Medicine.
We invested significantly in mental health and emotional well-being, with grants to NAMI of El Paso, Emergence Health Network, the El Paso Child Guidance Center, the Borderland Rainbow Center and more, which were especially critical resources providing thousands of individuals with education and connections to mental health support services during the pandemic.

Strategic Plan 2025

While focused on the present, we also engaged in a strategic planning process to develop a guide for the Health Foundation’s work over the next five years in three priority areas: Healthy Living, Disease Prevention and Management, and Health Leadership.

In all, the Health Foundation invested $12 million in grants and charitable expenses with 70 organizations in 2020. We are pleased to provide this snapshot of 2020 and invite you to learn more about the work of the Paso del Norte Health Foundation at PDNHF.org.

When we can physically gather again, we will celebrate our silver anniversary. In the meantime, we mourn for those we lost and honor our partnerships. We are grateful to our board members, staff, grantees, and partners for your vision, leadership, hard work, flexibility, perseverance, creativity, and goodwill.

Sincerely,

Ruben Guerra

Chair, Board of Directors

Tracy J. Yellen

Chief Executive Officer

Learn More!

Grant Information and Highlights

In 2020, the Paso del Norte Health Foundation worked to promote health and prevent disease through grantmaking, collaboration, communications and advocacy in five priority areas - Healthy Eating & Active Living, Tobacco & Alcohol Prevention, Mental Health & Emotional Well-being, Healthy Kids, and Health Leadership - with the goal of ensuring that the residents of our region have the knowledge, resources, support, and environment needed to live happy, healthy, and productive lives. The Health Foundation also worked to ensure that it was flexible and responsive to the immediate needs of the community. In 2020, the Health Foundation invested $12 million in grants and charitable expenses working with more than 70 organizations across the five priority areas – including COVID-19.

Healthy Eating & Active Living (HEAL)

Nutrition and physical activity have been a priority for the Health Foundation since our inception. Regular healthy eating and physical activity reduce the likelihood of many chronic diseases, increase our chances to live longer, and improve our ability to do daily activities. In an effort to make healthy eating and active living the easy choice for all people in the region, in 2020 the Health Foundation invested $2.8 million to support 23 organizations under the HEAL priority area. As a result, thousands of children and adults received nutrition, cooking, and gardening lessons and support for engaging in physical activity.

Healthy Eating & Active Living (HEAL)

Nutrition and physical activity have been a priority for the Health Foundation since our inception. Regular healthy eating and physical activity reduce the likelihood of many chronic diseases, increase our chances to live longer, and improve our ability to do daily activities. In an effort to make healthy eating and active living the easy choice for all people in the region, in 2020 the Health Foundation invested $2.8 million to support 23 organizations under the HEAL priority area. As a result, thousands of children and adults received nutrition, cooking, and gardening lessons and support for engaging in physical activity.

“We want to help individuals develop long-term skills and guide them, focusing on their motivation and their strengths.”

Christal Tucker FreshStart Director
Kelly Center for Hunger Relief

The Kelly Center for Hunger Relief and the Paso del Norte Health Foundation have partnered since 2015 on the Fresh Start program, based on a mutual interest in addressing the root causes of food insecurity. The Fresh Start program provides members a variety of resources, including not only food, but support, goal setting, job counseling, nutrition and health classes, computer skills, financial literacy, fitness classes with programs like Zumba and more.

Grant List
Arbol de Vida - $139,836.49 
Arbol de Vida’s 2020 HEAL Program

Border Partners - $104,742.00 
Palomas Mexico’s HEAL Project

Canutillo Independent School District - $24,777.50 
CATCH the Eagles, if you can!

City of Las Cruces - $17,500.00
 Southwest Doña Ana Move Trail

Ciudadanos Comprometidos con la Paz, A.C. - $273,446.25
 Movimiento Saludable 2020

Common Threads - $18,079.00 
Healthy Cooking and Nutrition Education for Tornillo Youth and Families

El Paso Children’s Hospital Foundation - $137,330.33
 Empower Program: Pediatric Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Outpatient Education

El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1. - $20,000.00 
Trail Survey Work for Franklin Canal

El Paso Diabetes Association, Inc. - $93,146.50 
Diabetes Education and Support Program and Sabrosa Vida

El Pasoans Fighting Hunger - $55,367.00 
Converting El Paso Food Pantries to Client Choice Model

Families and Youth, Inc. - $46,423.09 
The Learn and Play (LAP) Project

Fundación Pedro Zaragoza Vizcarra A.C. - $26,080.23
 Programa de Atención Nutricional Para Niños En Ciudad Juárez

Girls on the Run El Paso - $5,775.00 
Girls on the Run El Paso 2020-2021 Programming Initiative

Kelly Memorial Food Pantry - $159,943.50 
FreshStart 2020

La Semilla Food Center - $341,314.55
 Edible Education and Community Education 2020

New Mexico State University Foundation, Inc. - $227,867.16
 Youth on the Move and Eat Well Otero

Organización Popular Independiente, A.C. - $48,847.64 
Pequeños Pasos para Grandes Desafíos y Superando el desafío: Regimen plant-based y actividades de movimiento

Otero Soil and Water Conservation District - $4,932.50 
Desert Critters Trail

Paso del Norte Children’s Development Center - $108,562.68 
Off to a Good Start: Eating Our Way to a Healthy Life

PHIX - $148.133.00
 Diabetes Management and Tracking

Texas A&M University - $195,164.50
 More Counts/Más Cuenta 2020

The University of Texas at El Paso - $10,063.50 
Diabetes Assessment in the County of El Paso, TX

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - $235,162.50
 Primary Care Obesity Management: System Integration for La Clinica de Familia and Increasing Access to Healthy Food through the Healthy Food Financing program

HEAL expenditures that include program related service contracts - $450,989.92

Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention

While the world was focused on the global public health crisis being caused by COVID-19, our communities were facing a different lung concern, E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury, or EVALI. This newly identified lung disease, though very different from the coronavirus, shows the lungs vulnerability to vaping devices.

Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention

While the world was focused on the global public health crisis being caused by COVID-19, our communities were facing a different lung concern, E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury, or EVALI. This newly identified lung disease, though very different from the coronavirus, shows the lungs vulnerability to vaping devices.

“Vaping hasn’t been around long enough to study the long-term effects, yet we’ve seen reports of serious lung damage in people who vape. We know that vaping puts nicotine into the body, which is highly addictive and can slow brain development in children, and adolescents, which can affect their memory, their ability to learn, and their behavior.”

Bill Coon President and CEO
El Paso YMCA and Backbone Organization for A Smoke Free Paso del Norte

Through the Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention priority area, the Health Foundation, and its partners, the YMCA of the Greater El Paso & Rio Grande Valley and Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense, A.C., are working to eliminate smoking in the region, create environments that reduce underage drinking, and reduce binge drinking among people of all ages.

Grant List
Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense, A.C. - $99,339.07 
Paso del Norte Health Foundation and Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense Alliance

YMCA of Greater El Paso, TX & Rio Grande Valley - $462,615.44 
Smoke Free & Shift Positive Collaborative

Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention expenditures that include program related service contracts - $561,954.51

Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being

Following the August 3, 2019 tragedy that hit our city, mental health and addiction service providers united to serve people in need. As the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders took effect in early 2020, the trust and support among these essential providers grew even stronger. Collaboration was more important than ever as we began to see the traumatic mental health and addiction repercussions of these disasters. The Health Foundation invested more than $1.5 million in partnering with 10 organizations to promote emotional well-being, reduce stigma and negative bias, and improve access, ease of navigation, and continuity of care for mental and behavioral health services in the region.

Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being

Following the August 3, 2019 tragedy that hit our city, mental health and addiction service providers united to serve people in need. As the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders took effect in early 2020, the trust and support among these essential providers grew even stronger. Collaboration was more important than ever as we began to see the traumatic mental health and addiction repercussions of these disasters. The Health Foundation invested more than $1.5 million in partnering with 10 organizations to promote emotional well-being, reduce stigma and negative bias, and improve access, ease of navigation, and continuity of care for mental and behavioral health services in the region.

“Something we all can do as parents, mentors, citizens, and community leaders is to be vigilant and prepared to prevent tragedies by guiding individuals at risk or in crisis to professional help. Take time to learn about the warning signs of mental illness and addiction.”

Dr. Martha Sánchez ROTMENAS Project Director and Outreach Office Coordinator
U.S. Mexico Border Health Commission, Mexico Sector

ROTMENAS is a collaborative that works to strengthen the behavioral health system of care in Ciudad Juárez and provides evidence-based training programs for professionals and lay health workers and advocates for policy change related to mental health service systems within the state of Chihuahua.

Grant List
Borderland Rainbow Center - $7,335.00 
Creating Culturally Competent Services for Deaf Clients

City of Alamogordo - $105,801.79 
Improving systems to improve care: Building a culture of CIT in Alamogordo

Comisión de Salud Fronteriza México-Estados Unidos - $176,857.46 
PROYECTO ROTMENAS 2021: continuidad del trabajo en salud mental y respuesta ante las consecuencias de la pandemia por COVID-19

El Paso Child Guidance Center - $113,696.16 
A Trauma and Resilience Informed Approach to Reduce Mental Health Stigma and Build Organizational & System Capacity to Empower Youth & Families

Emergence Health Network/El Paso MHMR - $111,333.91
 Mental Health Learning Library

Families and Youth, Inc. - $95,275.06 
Local Collaborative 3 (LC3)

Family Service of El Paso, Inc. - $273,557.44 
People Empower El Paso (PEEP 2019)

Techo Comunitario, A.C. - $22,550.00
 Programa de Parentalidad Positiva (Triple P) en Ciudad Juárez.

Texas Tech Foundation, Inc. - $82,500.00 
Special Behavioral Health System Technical and Program Implementation Support

YMCA El Paso del Norte Region - $101,415.00 
Project ALMA (Active Learning Mindful Achievement)

Mental and Emotional Well-Being expenditures that include program related service contracts: $252,836.00

Healthy Kids

Youth need more than classroom time and curricula to be successful. Studies show that afterschool programs have a wide-ranging benefit for children including boosting academic performance, improving social skills, creating a positive environment for children to learn and grow, promoting health, and encouraging good habits.

Healthy Kids

Youth need more than classroom time and curricula to be successful. Studies show that afterschool programs have a wide-ranging benefit for children including boosting academic performance, improving social skills, creating a positive environment for children to learn and grow, promoting health, and encouraging good habits.

The Paso del Norte Health Foundation’s Healthy Kids initiative aims to engage disconnected youth in the Paso del Norte region with high-quality programs during out-of-school hours. Disconnected youth are between the ages of 5 and 17 who are not involved in any out-of-school activities or are not employed. In 2020, twelve organizations received more than $1.2 million in funded programs that provided a safe place with positive activities and a trusted adult necessary for a child’s healthy life.

“Afterschool and summer programs provide youth with tools they can use inside and outside of the classroom, boost self-esteem, and can introduce healthy habits, now and in their future.”

Ashley Echavarria Boys & Girls Club of Las Cruces
Steering Committee Member for BOOST Network

The BOOST Network is a hub for out-of-school time (OST) providers that work together to identify, explore, and create opportunities that increase the quality and effectiveness of their programs for youth in west Texas, southern New Mexico, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

Grant List
Alianza para Colaboraciones Fronterizas A.C. - $29,714.04 
Ochéra Entrenando con Valores

Boy Scouts of America Yucca Council - $104,908.38
 Unidos Prosperamos 2020

Boys & Girls Club of Las Cruces, Inc. - $47,082.75
 More Teens, More Often

Boys & Girls Clubs of El Paso - $63,130.00
 Boys & Girls Club Connect

Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Juvenil, A.C. - $15,400.00 
Espacios de vinculación y desarrollo juvenil y Formando adolescentes saludables en entornos positivos

City of Socorro - $54,962.43 
Socorro Youth !n Culture Program (SY!C)

Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico - $72,525.00 
“Kids Can” Youth Entrepreneurship Program

Creative Kids, Inc. - $72,422.50
 2020 Project ABLE (Art Brokers Learning Experiences)

Organización Popular Independiente, A.C. - $137,681.86
 Cultura, arte y deporte: Jóvenes en acción y Niños, niñas y jóvenes en acción: Actividades extraescolares con influencia positive

Patronato del Museo del Niño de Ciudad Juárez, A.C. - $38,303.27
 Rodis Junior

Salud y Desarrollo Comunitario de Cd. Juárez, A.C. - $88,867.50 
Conectando con ValorArte y Femap en Conexión

United Way of El Paso County - $316,025.50 
Healthy Kids Backbone Organization

Health Leadership

The COVID-19 pandemic changed almost every facet of daily life in the Paso del Norte region. Knowing this, the Paso del Norte Health Foundation went to work creating informational resources to help the community deal with the pandemic and reduce the risk from COVID-19 - from developing website resource hubs in English and Spanish, purchasing and distributing PPE supplies to those in need, and funding programs that called upon promotoras de salud to inform rural communities on COVID-19 safety measures and vaccinations. The Health Foundation also awarded 35 COVID-19 related grants totaling more than $3.5 million under the Health Leadership priority area to help organizations recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, prepare for a second wave or future crisis, and/or transform their operations for future success. As a result, tens of thousands of residents were connected with health and social service resources to improve their lives, nonprofits’ technology was upgraded for operations and virtual service delivery, and personal protection equipment was made quickly available for homeless shelters and other partners in dire need.

Health Leadership

The COVID-19 pandemic changed almost every facet of daily life in the Paso del Norte region. Knowing this, the Paso del Norte Health Foundation went to work creating informational resources to help the community deal with the pandemic and reduce the risk from COVID-19 - from developing website resource hubs in English and Spanish, purchasing and distributing PPE supplies to those in need, and funding programs that called upon promotoras de salud to inform rural communities on COVID-19 safety measures and vaccinations. The Health Foundation also awarded 35 COVID-19 related grants totaling more than $3.5 million under the Health Leadership priority area to help organizations recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, prepare for a second wave or future crisis, and/or transform their operations for future success. As a result, tens of thousands of residents were connected with health and social service resources to improve their lives, nonprofits’ technology was upgraded for operations and virtual service delivery, and personal protection equipment was made quickly available for homeless shelters and other partners in dire need.

To ensure the success of nonprofit organizations in the community, the Health Foundation partnered with United Way of El Paso County to develop workshops, training and summits to assure board of directors are fully prepared to undertake their critical responsibilities. As a result, there were more than 200 individual training hours and 12 virtual Lunch and Learn series that included more than 300 participants.

“The outreach efforts help families learn the best practices to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 like masking, social distancing and hand washing as well as access to testing. The community is also assured that vaccinating is the right thing to do for us all. Vaccine sign up assistance and community resources referral are provided as needed.”

Pema Garcia Regional Director
Texas A&M University Colonias Program

The outreach efforts started with a partnership with the County of El Paso in the fall of 2020 and expanded for an additional six months with more than $1.7 million in funding from the Paso del Norte Health Foundation for the Texas A&M Colonias Program, The University of Texas at El Paso and other entities to engage more than 70 promotoras in personalized outreach efforts. The promotora program was also helpful during the collection of Census data in those hard-to-reach areas in El Paso County.

Grant list:
CASA of El Paso Inc. - $67,000.00 CASA of El Paso-COVID -19 Recovery

Center Against Sexual and Family Violence Inc. - $33,039.22
 Technology & Communication Solutions for Survivors Amid Covid-19

Child Crisis Center of El Paso - $60,058.99 
CCCEP COVID-19 Recovery and Preparedness Plan

Children at Risk - $10,000.00
 General Operating Support

El Paso Center for Children, Inc. - $161,251.56 
Organizational Recovery and Resilience

El Paso Child Guidance Center - $125,099.74
 Extending Healing and Hope: Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of the El Paso Child Guidance Center

El Paso County Medical Society - $40,387.92
 N95 Masks for outpatient providers and physicians

El Paso Human Services Inc. - $54,336.00 
Recovering and Transforming into the Digital World

Fab Lab El Paso - $1,500.00 
COVID-19 3D Printed PPE

Families and Youth, Inc. - $103,567.31
 FYI’s COVID-19 Adaptation & Recovery Efforts (CARE) Project

Fundación Paso del Norte para la Salud y Bienestar, AC- $50,000.00 
COVID19 – Health Emergency Response

Medical Center of the Americas Foundation - $50,000.00
 Support for El Paso COVID-19 Preparedness

Paso del Norte Community Foundation - $1,008,719.00 
Support for the Cancer Evaluation Project, Leveraging Resources General Purpose Grant and Outreach Efforts

PHIX - $75,000.00 
Diabetes Data and EP MedCorps, and COVID-19 Response Assistance

Programa Compañeros, A.C. - $24,576.20
 Unificando esfuerzos para la respuesta efectiva a la pandemia de COVID-19

Project Vida Health Center - $23,016.00 
PVHC COVID-19 Adaptations

Rescue Mission of El Paso, Inc. - $7,500.00 
Protective Mask Production and Distribution

Rio Grande Cancer Foundation - $78,870.00 
Transforming Cancer Services in the Age of COVID-19

Texas Tech Foundation, Inc. - $1,250,000.00 
Establishing the Woody L. Hunt School of Dental Medicine

The Arc of El Paso - $4,502.00
 Helping People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Respond to COVID-19

United Way of El Paso County - $96,240.00
 REALIZE Board Training Program

YMCA of Greater El Paso, TX & Rio Grande Valley - $40,780.00 
Y Connect

Health Leadership expenditures that include program related service contracts: $68,569.45

Grantmaking & Finances

Assets
*As of 12/31/2020

Administrative Expenses

Grants & Charitable Expenses
*2020

The Health Foundation ended the year with $256.3 million in assets, up from $130 million in 1995, keeping administrative expenses below 1 percent of foundation assets and bringing total grantmaking since inception to nearly $211 million.

Statement of Financial Position

Statement of Activities & Changes in Net Assets

The Impact of PDNHF in 2020

The Health Foundation invested $12 million in grants and charitable expenses with 70 organizations across our five priority areas to expand the opportunity for individuals to live healthy lives.

View Grant List

Grantmaking in Our Five Health Priorities

Investments

A Community of Philanthropy

The Paso del Norte Health Foundation is a supporting organization to the Paso del Norte Community Foundation and works with the Fundación Paso del Norte, a Juárez-based nonprofit. The Paso del Norte Community Foundation is a public charity established in 2013 to support the philanthropic goals of individuals, families, corporations, foundations, and nonprofit organizations to improve education, health, social services, economic development and quality of life in the Paso del Norte region.

The Fundación Paso del Norte is a Juárez-based nonprofit organization established in 2015 by the Paso del Norte Health Foundation to lead and promote partnerships and initiatives to improve health and quality of life for people in the Ciudad Juárez, México region.

2020 Annual Report

Our Team

Our Board of Directors

A Letter From our Board Chair & CEO

Ruben Guerra

Tracy J. Yellen

Grant Information and Highlights

Grantmaking & Finances

A Community of Philanthropy

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