Our Story

View HERC’s grand opening

In 1998 a broad coalition of BVHP institutions and residents sought to implement findings and recommendations of several official need assessment and planning studies.  The studies documented striking disparities between the BVHP communities and other San Francisco neighborhoods in terms of health status, health outcomes, and access to health services. The studies also recommended creation of a community resource center offering expertise in environmental health science as a vehicle to address these long-standing disparities. Because of the studies Bayview Hunters Point Health and Environmental Resource Center (HERC) came into being.

In the Fall of 1999, HERC received a grant from the Department of Public health (DPH) to address the issues of health disparities of residents living in Bayview Hunters Point. DPH continues to be a major financial supporter of HERC in its health awareness campaign.

Five years later, HERC has compiled a strong record of achievement in working collaboratively with a broad range of public and private stakeholders whose support is essential to ensure lasting, sustainable improvement in the health and welfare of neighborhood residents. HERC has community credibility, access to environmental health expertise, and the leadership necessary to effectively guide project implementation.

Since its inception, HERC has provided more than 57,000 face-to-face health service contacts and over 26,000 hours of direct service. This represents more than 100% above service projection. Despite fluctuations in funding HERC has been able to surpass it's projection by a little over 200 percent.