January 8, 2026
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation’s Community Fund highlights the transformational impact of nearly $1 million invested in Healthy Vallejo
Vallejo, CA (January 2, 2026)
In Vallejo, dozens of young people who once faced violence, instability, and limited opportunity are now earning paychecks, gaining skills, and rebuilding their futures — while helping clean and restore their city.
That transformation is driven by Healthy Vallejo Community Support Services, Inc., a Vallejo-based nonprofit that provides paid employment, mentoring, life-skills training, and environmental cleanup services for at-risk youth, and supported by Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation’s Community Fund, which has awarded Healthy Vallejo a total of $952,000 in grants since 2022 to strengthen its ability to serve the youth in the Tribe’s ancestral territories.
Led by Pastor Anthony Summers, Healthy Vallejo has grown from a grassroots effort into a nationally recognized model for youth employment and community restoration. In 2025, the organization raised nearly $1 million, employed up to 40 disconnected youth, and achieved its greatest environmental impact to date — all while helping stabilize lives touched by poverty, violence, and trauma.
“This partnership reflects what’s possible when Tribal investment is paired with trusted, mission-driven leadership,” said Anthony Roberts, Tribal Chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation. “Healthy Vallejo is not just providing jobs — they are creating stability, restoring dignity, and helping young people see a future for themselves and their city. This is the kind of hope we want to provide to all of the young people in our Patwin ancestral homelands.”
Measurable Results, Real Lives Changed
In 2025, Healthy Vallejo’s work delivered tangible benefits for individuals, families, and neighborhoods across Vallejo. With sustained support from Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation’s Community Fund, the organization achieved the following:
- Employed and trained up to 40 at-risk youth, the largest workforce in the organization’s history, providing steady paychecks, job readiness skills, and pathways to long-term careers
- Helped prevent significant justice system costs by employing youth who might otherwise be drawn into the justice system, keeping young people connected to work, education, and community
- Collected more than 264,000 pounds of trash and debris, plus an additional 135,000 pounds of compost and yard waste, marking the organization’s greatest environmental impact to date
- Secured a $250,000 on-call contract with the City of Vallejo Public Works Department, expanding cleanup of homeless encampments and strengthening the organization’s role as a trusted municipal partner
- Provided free yard and home maintenance to nearly 50 seniors and residents with disabilities, helping prevent fines, displacement, and financial hardship while modeling community care for youth employees
- Supported transitions into college, vocational training, and public service, including placements with California Job Corps and Cal Fire, and enrollment at institutions such as Sacramento State, Howard University, and Solano Community College
A Local Leader with Growing Reach
Pastor Summers launched Healthy Vallejo’s youth employment program in 2021 after surviving a near-fatal case of COVID-19 — an experience he describes as a turning point that renewed his commitment to service. Since then, the organization has supported young people facing extreme hardship, including family instability, housing insecurity, and community violence, helping them transition into employment, education, and long-term opportunity.
“This has been one of the most meaningful years in Healthy Vallejo’s history,” said Pastor Anthony Summers, Executive Director of Healthy Vallejo Community Support Services. “Because of partners like Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, we’ve been able to reach and employ some of the most disconnected young people we’ve ever served — young people who have faced poverty, violence, and trauma, but who are now earning paychecks, gaining skills, and building real futures.”
“Yocha Dehe’s support didn’t just help us grow financially — it helped us believe we could do more,” Summers added. “They saw the vision, they trusted the work, and that belief allowed us to stabilize lives, care for seniors, clean our city, and show our youth that success is possible, no matter where they started.”
For many participants, that support has translated into lasting opportunity — with former interns moving on to college, vocational training, and careers in public service and the trades.
As Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation reflects on its community investments in 2025, the Tribe is highlighting this partnership as a powerful example of how sustained, place-based support can strengthen youth, families, and neighborhoods — and help communities thrive.
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has a longstanding history of investing in hundreds of community-based organizations that uplift families and strengthen neighborhoods within its ancestral lands. In Solano County and Vallejo, the Tribe’s philanthropic efforts span decades, reflecting a deep commitment to giving back as soon as it was able. The Tribe is proud to partner with organizations like Healthy Vallejo and to support the young people who are showing extraordinary determination and effort to improve their lives through these programs.
Looking Ahead
“The Community Fund was created to invest in organizations that are deeply rooted in their communities and positioned to deliver lasting, measurable impact,” said Mia Durham, Secretary of the Tribe and Chair of the Community Fund. “Healthy Vallejo reflects that approach by combining compassion with real results that are strengthening youth, families, and neighborhoods for the future.”
With its current Community Fund grant extending through 2026, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation remains committed to supporting Healthy Vallejo’s continued growth and impact.
About the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is a self-governed, sovereign nation that supports its citizens by strengthening culture, stewarding land, and creating economic independence for future generations. The Tribe is committed to building strong communities and developing effective partnerships with neighbors in California’s Capay Valley and regionally in Yolo, Solano, Colusa, and parts of Lake, and Napa Counties, where their people have lived from time immemorial. Through its Community Fund, the Tribe invests in organizations and programs that strengthen health, education, environmental sustainability, and economic opportunity.
About Healthy Vallejo Community Support Services, Inc.
Healthy Vallejo Community Support Services, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to improving the health, safety, and economic well-being of Vallejo’s most underserved residents through youth employment, environmental stewardship, and community-based support services. Learn more at www.healthyvallejo.com.
For more information, visit yochadehe.gov.