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LEARNING FORUMS
Nurturing a Healthy Border Region: The Potential of Philanthropic Collaboration
BPP COMMUNITY HEALTH - THEMATIC MEETING
October 19 and 20, 2007 - Tijuana, Baja California
Nurturing a Healthy Border Region: the Potential of Philanthropic Collaboration brought together BPP border community foundation representatives to share information, learn from peers, and potentially identify collaborative projects focusing on how border community foundations and partners such as government entities and other foundations can work together to improve health in border communities.
A 2006 study released by the Border Counties Coalition examines the southern US border counties as a 51st state. Viewed through this lens, the ‘border state’ ranks last in terms of presence of health care professionals, second to last in rates of population with access to medical insurance, and near the top in the incidence of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and diabetes. On the Mexican side, border municipalities are characterized by the highest rates of population growth in the nation, but Mexican border communities similarly suffer lower than average national standards for presence of hospitals and clinics, comparable deficiencies of medical personnel and also confront high rates of infectious disease. Against this backdrop, and building on the existing interest and engagement in health efforts of border foundations the US-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP) seeks to strengthen the capacity of border community foundations to increase cross-border and cross-sector collaboration on border health issues. Sharing of effective practices and lessons learned on the ground will be an important component for advancing this initiative.
Meeting Objectives:
- Increase awareness of border community foundations about border health challenges and possible strategies to address them
- Identify two or three top priority issue areas that border community foundations and other border funders could work on together to make an impact on border health
- Facilitate collaboration and leveraging of resources with other border partners (health conversion foundations, corporate funders and governmental entities)
- Identify next steps and action items for furthering collaboration in support of border health
Meeting Agenda:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2007
6:30PM Welcome Dinner
A relaxed and informal dinner and brief program provided meeting participants with the opportunity to meet and reconnect with colleagues. Representatives from our co-host community foundations, the Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad and the International Community Foundation welcomed participants and shared a sneak preview of Fragile Lives: Blurring Lines: Addressing the Critical Health Challenges in the San Diego-Baja California border region, a documentary video on border health co-produced by the two foundations.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007
8:30AM Opening Panel: Border Health Issues Today This diverse panel, moderated by Claudia Basurto, Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad, provided background context for our meeting.
- Dr. James Gerber of San Diego State University gave a broad overview using the Border Human Development Index that he created.
- Dr. Lawrence Kline, of the US-Mexico Border Health Commission, updated meeting participants on more specific health parameters being tracked by the Commission and its partners in the border including its Healthy Border 2010 indicators
- Dr. Gudelia Rangel of the Colegio de la Frontera Norte focused on her research related to policy issues that affect certain border populations such as children and women
9:25AM Learning Bazaar Topics: Critical Challenges and Strategic Solutions for a Healthy Border
This innovative learning and knowledge exchange method featured five cases of initiatives that are crossing institutional and/or geographical divides to address critical border health issues.
- SOLUCION TB - Blanca Lomeli, Project Concern International’s Border Health Initiative
- PREVENCASA (HIV/AIDS) - Representatives from UCSD Alicia Vera and Dra. Remedios Lozada
- Pfizer Alliance for Healthy Border Initiative (cardiovascular disease and diabetes) - Sally Munemitsu
- Community Access Program of Arizona and Mexico CAPAZ-MEX (access to care) – Claudia Ulloa and Dr. Abel Sánchez
- Los Niños International (family health and food security) - Elisa Sabatini
12:30PM Influence to Impact: The Unique Potential of Philanthropy in Nurturing a Healthy Border Region
Keynote Speaker, Mario Gutierrez, Director of Rural and Agricultural Worker Health Programs at the California Endowment addressed meeting participants and discussed the special and varied roles philanthropic institutions can play in tackling critical community health issues. Beyond the power of the grant, border foundations have the distinctive ability to convene, mobilize and catalyze significant action to improve health in our region. Mr. Gutierrez commented on both the potential and imperative of border foundations in creating a healthier frontera.
2:30PM Community Site Visits 
Participants had an opportunity to choose from three potential site visits on this afternoon with local organizations that both struggle and innovate to confront complex border health issues. Participants toured facilities, spoke with practitioners and then returned to the hotel to debrief on the visit and discuss the special role and unique assets border community foundations can bring to similar types of efforts in communities the length of the border.
- Site visit to Prevencasa - A Mexican nonprofit organization that works with high risk groups in Tijuana by doing outreach, education and research, and delivery of needle exchange programs as measures to help combat the growing incidence of HIV / AIDS in the San Diego – Tijuana region.
- Site visit to Hospital General de Tijuana - A unique example of an organization that is a recipient of grants from two BPP foundation members, Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad and International Community Foundation. The Hospital General will also convey to participants the unique challenges that communities from both sides of the border face as a result of mass migration.
- Site visit to Fronteras Unidas ProSalud - An organization that provides sexual education to teens and bilingual health and human service programs to Mixteco communities. The work of this organization encapsulates the challenges that all communities face in dealing with issues of bilingualism and cultural diversity.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2007
9:15AM Border Health as a Human Right: A Call to Action, Keynote address by Ambassador Eleazar Benjamín Ruiz y Ávila, Secretary, Mexico Section of the United States Mexico Border Health Commission
Is access to adequate health care and a clean environment that promotes healthy living a human right? If so, what can border foundations do to provide leadership at the local, state, national and even transnational levels to support this idea? What is the value of community foundations and their partners from either side of the border reaching across the border to work collaboratively to promote a framework that ensures all border citizens’ health needs are met? Ambassador Ruiz brought his considerable experience in the areas of human rights, migration and health to our meeting in the form of a provocative call to action to border foundations.
11:00AM Action Planning Groups: Identifying Opportunities and Action Planning for Expanded Health Grantmaking Collaboration across Institutional and Geographical Borders
The objective of this session was to facilitate collaboration between and among community foundations and other border partners to address a border wide critical issue discussed at the meeting, or to work together on a number of issues in a particular geographical area. Participants self-selected into teams around a different issue or regional geography.
11:45AM Determining Next Steps towards Collaboration & Partnership for a Healthy Border
Plenary session lead by BPP Health Advisory Committee Co-chairs, Claudia Basurto, Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad, Tijuana and Richard Kiy, International Community Foundation and Ann Tartre, BPP Director
- until next time-