Heritage Institute for Family Advocacy

Ms. Sally Wheeler Valine
Email: sallywvaline@aol.com
1010 Hurley Way, Suite 290
Sacramento Ca 95825
Office: 916 564-4111
Fax: 916 564-4141

Heritage Institute for Family Advocacy

Hand-up philosophy

HIFA believes in Community Collaboration-
People Helping People-
and supports projects and programs that assist families to create a better quality of life.

HIFA History

Heritage Institute For Family Advocacy (HIFA)was incorporated in 1998 as a non-profit in California and received 501C-3 status in 1999.

HIFA's dual mission is to give families a voice and develop outreach programs for health, housing, and education. HIFA acts as an umbrella organization to develop sponsors, programs, and projects that promote it's specific purposes. HIFA partners to develop projects, civic awareness programs, conferences, workshops, and business coalitions to promote family stability and health.

Programs and services we provide

Family Advocates provides pro-bono and low-cost assistance with legal issues, conducts mediation, and contracts with attorneys, investigators, and consultants to provide needed assistance to low-income individuals and families.

Family Advocates assist families through case management, issue evaluation, and referrals for families in need.
Family Advocates is a PG&E CARE Enrollment Coordinator for the Sacramento area and it's professionals assist families to obtain PG&E discounts.

Our Certified Application Assistants (CAAs) play an important role in helping children and families
enroll in healthcare services. In addition to helping families complete and submit the joint
Healthy Families and Medi-Cal for Families mail-in application, CAAs also keep families
informed about program changes and help them maintain their health coverage. CAAs also
help families who do not qualify for no-cost Medi-Cal or Healthy Families by referring them to
other available programs.

Sportsupport 4 Kids (SS4K)
SS4K's mission is to provide participation scholarships for activity fees and equipment to those children who cannot afford to play.
Children from low and middle income families can no longer participate in school and recreation district programs as the fees for participation have skyrocketed.

HIFA Liberty Housing
HIFA Liberty Housing's mission is to provide affordable housing alternatives for low income families in Northern California. HIFA has partnered with Liberty Housing, a modular home developer, and Placer financial Services to develop and finance affordable housing alternatives in Northern California Communities through Designer Series Modular homes.
Financial programs with no and very low down payments are available for those families that qualify.

HIFA Education Assistance
A project designed to provide bilingual education for career development in technology and health professions for individuals in transition. HIFA has partnered with Prime Health and Penquinsa Technologies. Instruction for the provision of course work approved by the California Private Post Secondary and Vocational Education Commission.

Toxic Environments Affecting Families
HIFA's Mold Affected Children Identification and Treatment program was developed to assist educators and families to identify toxic living conditions that effect children. Low income housing available to families, due to lower rents, is frequently poorly maintained. Toxic school and home environments can cause above-average absentee issues. Children affected by toxic molds may exhibit symptoms that range from Asthma,Sinusitis,Eczema, and other dermal infections, chronic digestive disorders, chronic fatigue, irregular vision patterns, and attention deficit disorders.
HIFA provides educational programs that train individuals and educators to identify potential toxic issues in living environments. HIFA provides low cost environmental testing through its partnership with ADAM Environmental Laboratories.

HIFA is constantly researching new projects and programs to assist families.