After 20 years of serving the Coachella Valley, Health Assessment and Research for Communities, aka HARC, will close at the end of the year due to a lack of funding.
The nonprofit specializes in health research and has published seven triennial local studies, called the Coachella Valley Community Health Survey, regarding health-care use, food insecurity and other community needs. The organization said it has helped other local organizations bring in more than $14 million in funding over the years by providing data that pinpointed critical needs in the region.
The nonprofit’s annual budget has been between $1.1 million and $1.4 million in recent years, but the bank accounts are now virtually empty. Jenna LeComte-Hinely, HARC’s chief executive officer, said the organization isn’t closing because of one issue, but rather a culmination of economic setbacks over the last two years—government funding cuts, a struggling economy and grants falling through. HARC has already laid off more than half of its staff and is now looking for an organization to take over the Community Health Survey.
“Our data is evidence for organizations to request funding,” LeComte-Hinely said. “It’s one thing to ask for money to fix a problem, but another to say, ‘There is a problem; here is evidence. Help fund us to fix it.’”
HARC was established in 2006 to expand upon the Coachella Valley’s meager health data. The large triennial health surveys identified the area’s health needs and gave insights into locals’ quality of life.
“We’ve used (HARC) to better understand the health-care needs of uninsured adults in our community, strengthen grant proposals and secure funding,” said Doug Morin, executive director at Coachella Valley Volunteers in Medicine, in a statement. “Losing access to this local data would create a significant gap for organizations like ours. Reliable community health data helps us make informed decisions and demonstrate needs to funders and community partners.”
Kraig Johnson, executive director of Jewish Family Service of the Desert, said in a statement that the organization relies heavily on HARC’s data.
“It’s one thing to ask for money to fix a problem, but another to say, ‘There is a problem; here is evidence. Help fund us to fix it.’”
Jenna LeComte-Hinely, HARC’s chief executive officer
“Almost all grant applications include a needs-assessment section. … Applicants are asked to describe unmet needs proposed,” Johnson said. “Any ‘expenses’ related to HARC data generation are greatly outnumbered by grant dollars awarded and, most importantly, the creation or continuation of services that many of our neighbors rely on.”
Without HARC, Johnson said, his organization will need to shuffle resources to generate data on its own, or offer less-compelling needs assessments in grant applications.
LeComte-Hinely said the data told stories that weren’t widely known before.
“People hear Palm Springs and think rich white guys playing golf,” LeComte-Hinely said. “But HARC’s data shows that thousands of seniors are food insecure.” This information helped one organizer acquire funding for Meals on Wheels, a program that delivers food to needy seniors, she added.
HARC has struggled to earn revenue through its consulting work. One client was the federal Office of Health Equity, for which HARC conducted assessment surveys for regarding violence prevention, opioid overdoses and COVID-19 needs.
“Then at the federal level, funding cuts for these types of preventative programs led to no money trickling down to us,” LeComte-Hinely said.
HARC was in the running for a grant with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which was offering funds to research clinical trials in rural areas, Lecomte-Hinely said.
“We created this beautiful proposal, and we were selected, but (the agency) wanted a cohort … hoping to have five or six projects,” Lecomte-Hinely said. “Since we were the only ones recommended for funding, they withdrew the entire call.”
Because the organization was unable to raise at least $500,000 to reach financial stability, the HARC board decided in August to dissolve the nonprofit. The remaining three-person team is working part-time to finish contracts.
LeComte-Hinley said they are still reaching out to organizations to take on the Coachella Valley Community Health Survey; for now, they are speaking to the county health department and United Way 211; any transfer would also include training. The hope is to wrap up the transition by the end of the year, LeComte-Honely added.
“We looked at organizations who are invested in our region the same way we are,” LeComte-Hinley said. “One of my biggest fears is for our work to languish on some (hard drive) in somebody’s desk.”
