Sierra Health Foundation started the REACH Youth Program in 2006 with a commitment to
support healthy development of young people in the Sacramento Capital Region. Through
the REACH Community Action Strategy, the foundation supported organizations in nine
communities to develop coalitions in which youth and adults work side by side to provide
meaningful engagement and leadership opportunities for young people, and to make positive
changes in their communities to ensure youth have the supports and opportunities needed to
grow up to be healthy and engaged adults.

Believing that documenting the experiences of youth in their own voices contributes to
constituency building for community change, Sierra Health Foundation partnered with the
Sacramento Youth Empowerment Studio (SacYES) to produce this video as a dynamic way to
capture the experiences of youth and adults involved in the REACH Program. After conducting
almost 100 interviews, SacYES creatively combined the voices and images of REACH to tell the
stories of how the program has impacted youth – and the adults who care about them – in the
nine Northern California communities.

It is Sierra Health Foundation’s hope that the documentary will contribute to viewing young
people as agents of change with the capacity to inform, influence and positively impact
communities. Many thanks to all of the youth and adults who shared their stories and made
the REACH Impact Documentary possible. We hope viewers will find this video educational and
inspirational!