Equity for Black Women & Girls

In a county where less than 1% of community-directed funding reaches Black women and girls, the Equity for Black Women & Girls Initiative refuses that quiet erasure. This work is about more than numbers—it is about restoration. It is about seeing Black women and girls not as gaps to fill but as whole, brilliant leaders deserving of full investment.

Launched by RCF Connects in 2020 (following surveys, sister-circles, and community listening), this initiative imagines a future where Black women and girls in Contra Costa County receive the full dollar, not a fraction. It’s about building generational wealth, creating safe spaces for growth, and rewriting the story of who gets to lead, who gets to decide, and who gets to thrive.

What They Do & Who They Serve

The initiative offers targeted programs and supports designed to shift access, power, and outcomes for Black women and girls:

• Sistas SOARS Incubator Program — A business and enterprise incubator helping Black women and girls launch or grow their own ventures.

• Sister Circles — Intentional spaces created for Black women and girls to gather in deep listening, mutual respect, and communal wisdom.

• Community Engagement & Research — Including a full report on needs and desires of Black women and girls in the county, which served as the initiative’s launch point.

Why Their Work Matters

Crisis does not begin at the moment someone spirals — it begins long before, in conditions that leave people without support, resources, safety, or belonging. Equity for Black Women & Girls is building those conditions of stability, opportunity, and prosperity that make flourishing possible in the first place.

While The Miles Hall Foundation works to ensure compassionate care when a mental health emergency arises, the Equity for Black Women & Girls Initiative works further upstream — addressing the social and economic conditions that impact mental wellness before it becomes a crisis. When Black women have access to funding, mentorship, voice, community, and leadership pathways, they also gain the networks and stability that buffer against isolation, anxiety, burnout, and desperation.

Their work answers the question: What if a crisis could be prevented not only with therapy, but with equity?

In this way, The Miles Hall Foundation and Equity for Black Women & Girls are part of the same continuum of care:

Equity for Black Women & Girls	The Miles Hall Foundation
Creates the conditions for mental wellness & flourishing	Protects families when systems fail
Shifts resources toward Black women	Shifts emergency response away from police
Prevents harm through investment	Interrupts harm through advocacy

Prosperity is mental health care. Equity is prevention.

And through the Miles of Connections network, these efforts reinforce each other — building a safer, more supported future for Black women, Black families, and the generations that follow.

To learn more about their resources, support their movement, or spread awareness of their cause, visit their website for more information!

---

Partnership Acknowledgment

The organizations featured in Miles of Connections are part of a countywide effort to advance health, healing, and well-being within Contra Costa’s Black communities. Along with The Miles Hall Foundation, twelve organizations received funding through Contra Costa County to expand culturally rooted care and community support.

This work is built from the voices of over 4,000 Black residents who shaped the vision for a stronger ecosystem of services. In response, on August 12, 2025, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the launch of what will become the Federal Glover African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub — a coordinated network of Black-led wellness services to be anchored in East County.

The Contra Costa Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice (ORESJ), in partnership with the East Bay Community Foundation, is supporting this first cohort of organizations to ensure services reach the community now while the Hub’s long-term infrastructure is built.

As part of this initiative, The Miles Hall Foundation leads the “Miles of Connections” outreach effort, helping residents learn about, access, and connect with these vital healing resources.