Consumer Health Foundation

Our Mission

The mission of the Consumer Health Foundation is to achieve health justice in the Washington, D.C. region through activities that advance the health and well being of historically underserved communities. We support initiatives that empower consumers to make decisions and take actions that improve personal, family and community health.

Our Vision

We envision a region and nation in which everyone - regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status - has an equal opportunity to live a healthy and dignified life. 

Our Theory of Change

Community health requires a dual focus:  We are committed both to assuring that all residents in our region have equal access to quality health care, and to addressing the social and economic conditions that shape the health of our communities. 

Our Logic Model

The Consumer Health Foundation has developed a logic model illustrating its theory of change.

Our Values

1. Consumer Voice & Engagement -   An important component of improving the health and health status of our  communities is ensuring that everyone in our communities - especially those whose opinions are rarely sought and considered - has the opportunity to be heard, to be engaged, and therefore claim their rightful place in health and healthcare discussions. CHF believes that building social, political, and economic power among residents is essential to eliminating health inequities and building healthy communities.  Consumers and their families must also play an active role in the way our health care system is designed and the way services are delivered.

2. Equity & Social Justice -   CHF understands that structural racism in employment, housing, education, and healthcare contributes to poorer health outcomes among all people of color, and particularly among those with low and moderate incomes. These Social Determinants of Health Equity - the social and economic policies and conditions that create opportunities for good health - are a key focus of our work. While we serve the entire metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, the “hub” of our work will remain in communities that experience the greatest health and social inequities, particularly the District of Columbia and Prince George’s County, Maryland. 

3. Health Care for All -   CHF believes that everyone deserves equitable access to affordable, high quality healthcare.  This care should include best practices and be evidence-based, patient- and family-centered, culturally and linguistically appropriate, and cost effective.  To achieve this, we believe that our current health care system must be redesigned around the “medical home model” which integrates primary care services with prevention and wellness, mental and behavioral health, oral health, and substance abuse treatment.

4. Partnership -  CHF is defined by our relationships with our communities.  We value developing, supporting, and participating in alliances that allow us to attract the support, expertise, and resources of others in the public and private sectors.  By collaborating with those in housing, employment, education, and other partners we can address the multiple physical, social, economic, and environmental factors that affect community health. Significant resources must be invested in developing community leadership that creates and supports the networks necessary for improving the health of our communities.

5. Innovation & Risk Taking -   CHF invites the unexpected.  We support experimental, innovative, and emerging programs, and we understand that the best ideas may not come neatly packaged or from likely or familiar sources.  We believe in serving as a catalytic funder for projects that may not get funding elsewhere and that have the potential to demonstrate new and effective ways of thinking and operating.  We also believe in investing heavily in building the capacity of our nonprofit partners to excel in their work.  We are dedicated to continuously examining our grantmaking process to make sure that the best ideas, the smallest organizations, and the newest voices are heard.

6. Shared Learning -    CHF is committed to measuring the progress and outcomes of our work and to elevating promising practices and programs that have a positive impact on community health.  We understand, however, that despite everyone’s best intentions, some work does not come to fruition in the way envisioned.  Still, the knowledge gained from all of our experiences must be valued, harnessed, and shared with others.

7. Foundation Accountability -  As a community partner that takes its relationships seriously, we have always been committed to “walking our talk.”  As a private funder focused on improving the health and healthcare of underserved, low-income communities of color in our region, we must ensure that our own policies and practices are in keeping with our public health mission.  This includes: 

• Recruiting Board and staff members who reflect the racial and ethnic composition of the communities we serve;
• Investing through local, minority-owned management firms and/or through minority fund managers;
• Making socially responsible investments and prohibiting investments in funds that include tobacco-related companies and firearm manufacturers;
• Taking advantage of program-related investments and other creative mission-consistent investment strategies to support local partners and their community work;
• Assuring that evaluation and other performance measures include data on race, ethnicity, and primary language;
• Maintaining Foundation transparency and accountability by publicly sharing our work through our annual meetings, website, newsletters, and annual reports; and
• Providing the space and opportunity for our communities to discuss their health and healthcare concerns and solutions through our annual meeting, “speak-outs,” and other public venues.