In 2008, the Community Clinic’s Initiative launched a $1.6 million effort, the Community Health Organizing Project, to support statewide and regional advocacy efforts around health care reform and budget issues. The Project provided funding to the California Primary Care Association (CPCA) and 15 regional clinic networks working to bring more diverse voices, particularly clinic staff and patients, into health-related discussions occurring in California.

This brief describes the strategies that grantees undertook to engage more clinic staff and patients as health care advocates. It also includes the ways in which the program has contributed to enhance advocacy capacity, including better positioning clinics for future advocacy efforts, and offers considerations for others interested in similar types of endeavors.