A walking track and home gardens are among the fruits of the first year of a decadelong commitment by a philanthropic organization to improve the overall health of several Sacramento neighborhoods.

Since last August, first-year grants totaling approximately $3 million have been awarded to more than two dozen local organizations through the California Endowment's Building Healthy Communities initiative.

The endowment selected an area of 18 small neighborhoods in what it calls south Sacramento – including Oak Park, Lemon Hill, a portion of Tahoe Park, Colonial Manor and Fruitridge Manor – as one of 14 communities statewide into which it plans to funnel millions of dollars over the 2011-2020 decade.

Kim Williams, who has spent 20 years working for local nonprofit organizations, said such a place-based undertaking is unprecedented in the Sacramento area.

"It's an amazing opportunity to have a foundation say it is going to give 10 years of funding to this one community," said Williams, who as the project's local director works with grantees, residents, community leaders and organizations.

The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 by Blue Cross of California as a result of its conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit corporation.

The Building Healthy Communities initiative aims to tackle health issues at the grass-roots level.

Christine Tien, the endowment's program manager for Sacramento, said south Sacramento and Del Paso Heights were considered for the initiative. The south Sacramento neighborhoods were selected because "it was apparent that there were existing collaborations in the area," she said. "Organizations were already working together."

The area, home to roughly 89,000 people, ranked third lowest among 51 Sacramento County ZIP codes in per-capita income. Williams said it is the most ethnically diverse of the 14 communities chosen statewide.

Tien said she recruited organizations for the grant program that could help achieve the initiative's long-term goals, including a reduction in youth violence, reversing the childhood obesity epidemic, providing health care for children and increasing school attendance.

Grants ranged from $25,000 to $300,000, with many recipients of the larger grants subcontracting with other groups for services.

Charles Mason works with Ubuntu Green, a subcontractor for grantee Soil Born Farms. He has spent the past several months helping residents establish home gardens.

"We looked at what is the most simple way to provide healthy food access for someone," he said, "and the most simple way is to grow it at home."

Redwood box gardens are designed both for aesthetics and to ensure that the soil used for crops is free of contamination, he said. The boxes, typically measuring 3 feet by 8 feet, are equipped with drip irrigation systems on timers and cost about $400. So far, 27 home gardens are under cultivation. Three more will be established this year under the grant and 30 more next year.

Building Healthy Communities also partnered with the Sacramento City Unified School District to build a compacted-dirt track at Will C. Wood Middle School to promote exercise. The track, which opened March 31, is available for public use after school and on weekends, Williams said.

An 18-member steering committee, consisting largely of residents, meets monthly to discuss issues and goals. The committee also can make small grants of $250 to $2,000 to assist with community events, or school or neighborhood association activities.

Tien said grant funds available through the endowment will vary from year to year, "depending on the stock market," and the amount awarded will decrease in the latter years of the initiative. The goal, she said, is to develop sustainable programs, with grantees using the endowment monies to leverage funding from other sources.

For more information about Building Healthy Communities or the California Endowment, see www.mycal connect.org/sacramento and www.calendow.org/healthycommunities .

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