Health Equity Pilot Projects
We invest in innovative pilot projects and regional infrastructure to ensure the service delivery system can be responsive to client needs.
Small Projects
Purpose Dignity Action
Project Title: Client-driven needs assessment and recommendations on food insecurity
​
In partnership with the Safety Net Council, this project will conduct a community needs assessment on food insecurity for vulnerable populations in Thurston, Mason, and Lewis Counties, aiming to identify specific needs and present findings to South Sound food system leaders by March 2026. Vulnerable community members will be supported and compensated for engaging in focus groups and informational interviews for this assessment.
​
South Sound Food System Network
Project Title: Food System Capacity Building and Shared Learning
​
This pilot project aims to establish network leadership and deepen shared learning about food security issues for low to moderate-income people in the South Sound, collaborating closely with Purpose Dignity Action to share information and build food system priorities.
​
Our Ark
Project Title: Holistic case management supports for youth experiencing homelessness
​
This six-month pilot program (August 2025 – January 2026) provides dedicated case managers to bridge services for youth experiencing homelessness in Thurston County, formalizes partnerships with various providers, establishes resource hubs, integrates peer/family engagement, and offers transportation support.
​
LEWIS CO. COMM. HEALTH SERVICES INC | VALLEY VIEW HEALTH CENTER
Project Title: Mobile Youth Dental Services
​
This pilot project (approximately August 2025 – June 2026) provides mobile dental services, including screenings and fluoride treatments, at community locations like schools and events in Lewis County.
​
City of Olympia Fire Department
Project Title: Transportation Supports for CARES clients
​
Running from August 2025 – July 2026, this program provides same-day transportation resources (Ubers, Taxis, Intercity Transit rideshare) for CARES clients of Olympia and Tumwater Fire Departments to access vital medical, mental health, and social supports.
​
Boys & Girls Club of Lewis County
Project Title: Boys and Girls Club of Lewis County Garden re-design, farmer-in-residence sessions, and youth/family in-home garden project
​
Partnering with Seedpod Farm's "Farmer in Residence" starting May 2025, this project will engage Boys & Girls Club families through redesign of the club's garden, teaching food sovereignty skills for Boys & Girl’s Club families and will install raised beds with one-on-one mentoring for five families at their residences in Lewis County.
​
Washington United Migrant
Project Title: Circulo de Bienestar: Conectando Familias Latinas con la Salud Comunitaria
​
This project (approximately July through December 2025) fosters collective well-being by creating culturally relevant, trust-based spaces for Spanish-speaking Latino families in Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, and Thurston Counties to access vital health information through virtual workshops, a bilingual health resource guide, and dual outreach strategies.
​
The Olympia Free Clinic
Project Title: Patient Advisory Council
​
This new initiative establishes a patient advisory council at the Olympia Free Clinic to leverage diverse patient experiences, promoting patient-centered care, improving communication, and enhancing the overall patient experience at the clinic.
​
Lewis County Pediatrics and Family Medicine PLLC
Project Title: Bridging the Diagnostic Gap
​
This project expands access to diagnostic clinics in Lewis County through flexible scheduling (August-October 2025), implements bilingual navigation support by July 2025 for Spanish-speaking families, and develops culturally responsive post-diagnosis resources (August-November 2025).
​
Shelton Family Center dba The Youth Connection
Project Title: Youth Summer Program
​
This summer program in Shelton offers activities like zoo visits, park lunches, and a group camping trip, aiming to build trust and supportive relationships with youth who lack access to healthy development opportunities and often hesitate to engage due to broken trust in adults.
​
The Liberation Collective, LLC
Project Title: Expand Gender Bender Support Group Capacity
​
This project (June 2025 – May 2026) increases support group offerings for transgender individuals in Thurston County, including BIPOC-specific and harm reduction groups, by recruiting and training facilitators and collaboratively developing a community-wide fundraising event for sustainability.
​
THE CHILD CARE ACTION COUNCIL OF THURSTON COUNTY
Project Title: Trauma-informed and peer support for Parents as Teachers family and staff
​
This project supports trauma-informed care training and peer support for immigrant families working with the Child Care Action Council in Thurston County, particularly Indigenous Guatemalan households speaking Mam or Q'anjob'al, through trusted, bilingual home visitors, connecting families with culturally appropriate resources.
Olympia TBI Support
Project Title: Member support and building connection and belonging
​
This project primarily aims to ensure all members, including those with vision, hearing, and cognitive processing disabilities, can meaningfully engage in group activities, and secondarily, to explore expanding the Olympia TBI Support Group's capacity to address psychosocial needs like loneliness and social disconnection among individuals with TBI.
Media Island International/ WCLM
Project Title: Black Community Healing Project
​
The Black Community Healing Project will strengthen and uplift the Black community between Seattle and Portland by creating an informational "Resource Map" of safe, accessible green spaces and services in Olympia and surrounding areas, focusing on building relationships, genealogical research capacity, and hosting healing/connection workshops.
​
The Confederated Lower Chinook Tribes and Bands
Project Title: Canoe Journey Equal Access
​
This project is centered around the annual Intertribal Canoe Journey event, aiming to eliminate financial barriers by providing funding to low-income Chinook tribal members throughout Pacific, Wahkiakum, and Grays Harbor Counties who wish to be included in the healing cultural atmosphere.
Youth and Family Link
Project Title: Chuukese Community Engagement Events
​
Following a successful partnership event in March, Youth and Family Link proposes to hold three more engagement events in August, October, and November 2025, in partnership with local Chuukese community leaders, offering a combination of family activities, athletics, cultural sharing, and resources for local Pacific Islander families in Cowlitz County.
Large Projects
CIELO (Centro Integral Educativo Latino de Olympia)
Project Title: Promotoras de la Comunidad: Indigenous-Led Health Access in Mason and Lewis Counties
​
Promotoras de la Comunidad is a culturally grounded health equity pilot that activates and supports trusted Indigenous community leaders (Promotoras) to serve as connectors, advocates, and educators for Mam-, Q’anjob’al-, and Spanish-speaking families in Mason and Lewis Counties, who are often excluded from traditional health systems.
Support for Early Learning and Families
Project Title: Southwest Washington Child Care Partnership
​
This project addresses the critical shortage of licensed childcare in Southwest Washington (Cowlitz) by combining two grassroots initiatives: identifying and supporting individuals from BIPOC, immigrant, and rural communities to become licensed family childcare providers, and offering shared resources and professional development to existing childcare providers.
​
Touched By One Touched By All
Project Title: Mobile Safe Haven: A Community Resource Hub for Families
​
This pilot project by Touched By One, Touched By All, will launch a mobile outreach van in Lewis County to deliver essential resources, care navigation, and social-emotional support directly to rural and underserved families facing housing insecurity, language barriers, limited transportation, or foster care involvement.
​
Faith Lutheran Church
Project Title: Hope Plaza/Plaza Esperanza
​
Hope Plaza, a pilot project of Faith Lutheran Church of Shelton, serves as a monthly gathering space where community members, helping agencies, and neighbors come together to share a meal, build relationships, and co-create solutions that address local needs, focusing on reducing social isolation and improving access to services.
Equity Institute
Project Title: Men’s Healing Network
​
The Men’s Healing Network (MHN) is a community-led initiative that creates healing-centered spaces for male-identifying individuals across central western Washington, by training facilitators, bridging informal healing traditions with formal care, and fostering intergenerational belonging.
Crossroads Housing
Project Title: Mason County Community Service Hub
​
This project aims to establish a centralized Community Service Center in Mason County dedicated to addressing and ultimately ending homelessness, creating a low-barrier, one-stop hub where individuals in need can access a comprehensive range of services for stability, recovery, and long-term well-being.
Skokomish Indian Tribe
Project Title: Increasing Healthy Outcomes Through Culture & Tradition
​
The Skokomish Indian Tribe, in partnership with their Workforce Development and Health and Wellness Programs, seeks to improve health outcomes through cultural connection and traditional healing practices by hosting 12 small-scale cultural activities and one large-scale cultural event over 12 months, providing materials for engagement, and strengthening intergenerational knowledge-sharing within the Skokomish community.