Community Health Initiative Of Orange County

The mission of the Community Health Initiative of Orange County (CHIOC) is to connect all children, families, and other adults to affordable and high-quality healthcare and social services. We specialize in promoting access to healthcare, food aid, and emergency financial assistance for low-income individuals and families. Our goal is to promote health equity across Orange County, ensuring that everyone can access resources to live the healthiest life possible.

Established in 2006 with the support of the Health Funders Partnership of Orange County and St. Joseph Hospital –Orange, CHIOC was a part of a statewide initiative aimed at increasing health coverage for children. Beyond promoting health access for children, CHIOC played a crucial role in regional health system coordination, facilitating the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and helping to establish the OC Health Access and Enrollment Task Force.

In 2015, CHIOC gained independence as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In 2016, we spearheaded the Health4All Kids campaign, successfully expanding Medi-Cal services to undocumented children in collaboration with local schools, county agencies, and other nonprofits, resulting in the enrollment of over 2,000 children. In 2017, CHIOC became the first nonprofit health insurance broker agency for Covered California in the county, and by 2021, we secured our first contract as a Medicare-approved broker agency.

In response to the evolving needs of our community, CHIOC has continued to adapt our services. We have prioritized helping Orange County residents enroll in health coverage through California’s healthcare programs, while also addressing their basic needs – food and financial security, through social services programs. We provide referrals for food banks, housing assistance, and financial support. Our outreach and digital marketing efforts have expanded significantly, allowing us to connect with individuals affected by various issues, including economic hardships, language barriers, homelessness, immigration status and health disparities. We are committed to promoting health equity and ensuring that all community members have access to the resources they need.

Throughout its history, CHIOC has been cultivating enduring partnerships, trust within the community, and establishing a reputation for reliability and integrity, all in pursuit of our ultimate goal: HealthForAll.

In the 2023- 2024 Fiscal Year, CHIOC achieved the following milestones:
• Reached approximately 373,046 individuals through community outreach efforts and digital marketing.
• Completed 7,090 enrollments into healthcare and social service programs.
• Conducted 6,569 Care Coordination contacts to help clients confirm enrollment, select primary care doctors, renew coverage, and troubleshoot any problems in accessing care.
• Helped 1,012 individuals renew their coverage.
• Conducted 76 “Know Your Benefits” workshops, including via virtual platforms.
• Facilitated 11 OC Health Access and Enrollment Task Force meetings, strengthening Orange County’s enrollment workforce and improving county-wide collaboration efforts.

These outcomes are benchmarks toward our long-term goal of improving access to healthcare and social services in Orange County. We believe they have contributed to a decline in Orange County’s uninsured population from 17.8% in 2009 to 6.9% in 2021 (Orange County Community Indicators 2023-2024).
CHIOC has established comparable program goals for the current year and intends to surpass them. We aim to strengthen our programs for older adults, sustain our outreach efforts for adults aged 26-49 who are newly eligible for Medi-Cal, and expand our social enterprise initiatives to create a sustainable funding source for our core services.

Orange County is often seen as a place of privilege, yet 33% of its households live in poverty (United Way’s 2023 Real Cost Measure). Low-income immigrant communities in areas like Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Costa Mesa experience significant gaps in health coverage, with 12.5% of Latinos and 5.8% of Asian Americans uninsured, compared to 3.7% of white residents. Older adults, a growing demographic, face high rates of food insecurity and limited healthcare access. Recent state budget cuts have impacted essential services, making equitable access to healthcare more challenging, especially in northern and central Orange County. Major hospitals in these areas have all named this an urgent need in their Community Health Needs Assessments. Public Charge concerns also prevent undocumented and mixed-status families from seeking help, further highlighting CHIOC’s critical role as a trusted community resource.

CHIOC serves individuals and families across Orange County, especially those in under-resourced neighborhoods or cities with pockets of poverty. We reach clients by attending dozens of community health events each month and hosting weekly enrollments at partner locations across the county. You can visit our website for a full list of enrollment sites: www.chioc.org.

For almost 20 years, CHIOC has connected Orange County residents to affordable and quality healthcare and social services, pioneering a service model of outreach, enrollment, retention, and utilization to ensure that individuals and families can navigate systems and access resources to live the healthiest lives possible.

Helping one family at a time, CHIOC’s work engages with structural inequities in Orange County through grassroots outreach, accessible education, and practical assistance. Our core Community Health Access Program addresses foundational barriers to health and wellness that disproportionately impact people of color, including a lack of health coverage—which in turn curtails access to preventative care, treatment for chronic conditions, mental health services, and more. While not a cure-all, fighting to ensure access to health coverage and care, nutritious food, and various forms of economic assistance is a critical step to achieving health equity in Orange County. CHIOC’s Regional Health Leadership Program works to make the county’s healthcare system more responsive, accessible, and efficient by facilitating trainings, engaging in local and statewide advocacy for health equity, and educating community leaders, government officials, and other CBOs about the importance of health coverage in our community.

Committed to the belief that every person deserves the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible, CHIOC seeks out those hardest to reach, turn no one away, and provide tailored assistance to help each individual we serve. As one of our Health Access Specialists said at a recent event, “We always go beyond our job duties. We’re here for the community. If they need help, we’re there for whatever they need.”

I am honored to serve on the Board of CHIOC for so many reasons. The commitment of CHIOCs staff is insurmountable. They truly care about the community in which they serve and are passionate about the work they do. I have personally experienced having my son enroll in services from CHIOC—they were kind, caring, and provided much needed support and guidance throughout the process. CHIOC treats their clients like family, and to me that is what sets it apart from other organizations.

From a governance perspective, one of the biggest recent challenges was moving through COVID and the uncertainty of what the organization would face. Under the leadership of the Executive Director, the organization was able to develop a plan to ensure that services were not interrupted to help carry out the mission of CHIOC despite social distancing and the need to implement virtual service delivery. The organization continued to provide services without interruption to the community, and that perseverance for the community is visible in every facet of CHIOC's services.