Community Impact Grants

CalMHSA assists county behavioral health departments in administering grants to local organizations for providing mental health prevention services to their communities. These Time-Limited Community Driven Prevention and Early Intervention grants help to improve linkages to housing, food, and employment services, and offer mental health resources to unserved and underserved groups.

Through the grants, behavioral health departments have an opportunity to:

  • Innovate in mental health prevention and early intervention within their communities by selecting a grant focus that meets their county’s unique needs
  • Provide an equitable and holistic approach to assisting communities

Previous grants have focused on the Mental Health Services Act outreach, prevention, stigma and discrimination reduction, and suicide prevention components. Awardees are required to include culturally and logistically appropriate outreach to target audiences, as well as a focus on community participation and long-term community impacts.

Program Details

Lead Staff:

Jeremy Wilson

Senior Program Director

Email: [email protected]

Participating Counties:

Sacramento, Tulare

Sacramento County Community-Driven Time-Limited Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Grant Program 

The Sacramento County Community-Driven Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Grant Program was a collaborative initiative between Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services and CalMHSA to expand culturally responsive mental health and wellness services throughout Sacramento County. 

From May 2020 through June 2026, the program invested $18.8 million through two funding cycles, supporting 63 community-based organizations with grants of up to $500,000. Grantees provided innovative, community-driven services to Sacramento’s diverse and historically underserved populations—including refugee, immigrant, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ communities — in multiple languages, with the most commonly served languages including English, Dari, and Spanish. 

Over the course of the program, more than 180,000 Sacramento County residents were served through a wide range of non-traditional and peer-led wellness activities, including: 

  • Support groups 
  • Healing circles 
  • Sound baths 
  • Yoga and meditation 
  • Art therapy 
  • Music therapy 
  • Sewing circles 
  • Book clubs 

and other physical and mental wellness practices that promote connection, healing, and emotional well-being. 

The program increased quality of life for participants by creating accessible pathways to support, reducing stigma surrounding mental health, strengthening community connection, and encouraging help-seeking behaviors. Its lasting impact lies in building community capacity and expanding culturally grounded approaches to mental wellness across Sacramento County.