Healthy Communities, Inc., dba Healthy Oakland, is a faith-based, 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization Co-Founded by Pastor Raymond E. Lankford, MSW and Bishop E. C. Reems-Dickerson as a means to address and remedy escalating violence and health inequities present in the African-American communities in Oakland. Our theme “Reclaiming, Repairing, and Restoring Our Community” was introduced to Oakland and the Bay Area on September 8, 2001 with a march and rally which culminated at Verdese R. Carter Park in East Oakland with a “Non-Violence and Health Festival” that drew over 5,000 participants.

Through our services, HCI engages a client populace that is considered arduous to reach (i.e. the uninsured, underinsured, indigent, former foster youth and re-entry citizenry). These factions constitute a facet of our community (typically comprised of men of color) that often seek medical attention only once their condition(s) compounded to an emergency care state, seek emergency care services for non-urgent needs, thereby heavily congesting emergency care facilities, or fail to seek preventative primary care services regularly or altogether.