New Beginnings: Looking Forward from the 10-year Wellville Project
An open letter to our Wellville communities, partners and friends: On my hike early this morning, I paused for a moment – immersed in stillness,
Lake County, incorporated in 1861, was carved out of portions of Napa, Mendocino, and Colusa counties, with Lakeport as the county seat. The county’s most prominent geographical feature is 68-square-mile Clear Lake, which has approximately 100 miles of shoreline. The county enjoys the cleanest air in the state, an active local food movement, and a highly connected community.
The county’s economy has always relied on agriculture and tourism. These industries’ dual challenges of seasonal employment and relatively low pay contribute to high rates of poverty. Currently, self-employed individuals make up almost 38% of the total workforce. The largest employers are the health care system and local government, including schools.
The county consistently ranks as one of the least healthy counties in California. In addition to poverty, issues depressing the health and well-being of residents include drug and alcohol misuse, food and housing insecurity, limited educational and employment opportunities, transportation access, and blight.
In the summers of 2015 and 2018, Lake County suffered devastating wildfires; the cumulative damage includes more than 171,000 acres of burned land, the loss of more than 1,300 homes, and damage to dozens of commercial properties.
Wellville’s initial support of Lake County focused on creating Hope Rising, a nonprofit collaborative to bring together executives from local health systems, county government, nonprofits and other organizations. Over the past 10 years, the collaborative launched a number of initiatives, ranging from Hope Center, which serves community members experiencing homelessness, to SafeRx, focused on reducing the harm of the opioid crisis.
In 2017, the Hope Rising collaborative was selected for the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative, or CACHI.
Getting the hospital CEOs and county government officials to work together through Hope Rising was an early success for Lake County. But change from within requires broader and deeper participation of all residents. Hope Rising’s more recent efforts aim to expand the partnership, including Lake County’s significant Native American population.
As Lake County was preparing to host the 2022 Wellville Gathering, the Wellville team worked with locals to reach out to members of Lake County’s Pomo tribes. After we built a foundation of trust over several months, Pomo tribe members joined W5 community participants at the Gathering. In a very moving ceremony, Pomo tribe members generously shared their stories about the historical and continued trauma inflicted on their people. It was an invitation to heal together, to think about all those whose voices are not being heard, and to ultimately answer the question: What will we do together that none of us can do on our own?
That spirit carried into the W5 community team huddles at the Gathering. And it influenced Hope Rising leaders to more meaningfully engage members of the Pomo tribes. One was elected to serve as Hope Rising’s board chair.
This latest chapter in Lake County’s journey is unfinished. Trust-building is an ongoing process. It’s messy, like stitching together a quilt of various fabrics from different communities. Trust-building requires patience and persistence, accountability and forgiveness, continual demonstration of commitment and results that come through actions.
Homelessness and housing: Hope Rising created The Hope Center, a transitional housing facility that provides individualized services for those experiencing homelessness.
Substance misuse treatment and prevention: The SafeRx program works to reduce the harm of the opioid crisis in Lake County. The program provides education about opioids, including how to reduce stigmas associated with substance misuse. It also works directly with the community by offering free training on the use of Narcan/Naloxone.
An open letter to our Wellville communities, partners and friends: On my hike early this morning, I paused for a moment – immersed in stillness,
There is so much in our hearts and minds following these tumultuous past few months and intense past few days. This is a moment to consider the causes of the consequences that are now on full display. It’s time to call out what led to such health disparities and what will it take to improve outcomes for all.
When Covid-19 hit the US, we asked ourselves: Now that everyone is just trying to stay alive and save jobs, is Wellville just a distraction? We can’t just preach about the long term and what people want to achieve by the end of the Wellville project while they are busy responding to the short term. Instead, we tried a different question: How can we build a better long-term future even as we address current needs?
Population: 64,386
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Land area (sq. mi):1,256.46 mi2
Median age: 44.5
Median household income
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2019 data
Poverty rate
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2019 data
High school graduation rate
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2015-2019 data
Severe housing problems*
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*Percentage of households with at least 1 of 4 housing problems: overcrowding, high housing costs, lack of kitchen facilities, or lack of plumbing facilities (2013-2017)
Adult obesity
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2017 data
Adult smoking
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2018 data
Year of potential life lost*
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* Years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population. Data covers 2017-2019
Uninsured*
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* Persons under the age 65 (2019 data)
Per capita Medicare spending
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* As a percentage of insured; does not include uninsured. Data from 2019.
Insurance sources
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2019 data
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