R.I.V.E.R

Our Story --

In November 2013, three undergraduates recognized the need for preventive health care in the underserved community of the greater Sacramento area. They noticed that though all the student-run clinics provide patients with the service of primary care, preventive care services, like professional dietary care and mental health education, were not as commonly provided. The idea for providing preventive care was first inspired by Mahtab’s mother, Ameneh Danai, a registered dietitian in the Bay Area. Ten years ago, due to her unhealthy lifestyle, Ameneh was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Today, after beating cancer, she lives an even more healthy lifestyle and pursued a career as an RD to help prevent such situations from happening to others similar to her.

After recruitment of the remainder of the board, R.I.V.E.R. partnered with YXPlosion, a public health nonprofit organization that serves over 20,000 economically disadvantaged community members in the Sacramento area, heading the nutrition and health education aspects of the organization. R.I.V.E.R. is also currently in the process of applying to grants and getting approved as a nonprofit organization. With the help of dietitians, physicians, and other health professionals, R.I.V.E.R. hopes to be established as a UC Davis affiliated student-run clinic, focusing primarily on providing preventive care in conjunction to primary care to the underserved community in the greater Sacramento Area. Rather than focusing on a specific underrepresented group, R.I.V.E.R.’s main goal is to expand on the underrepresented secondary healthcare services provided by the existing U.C. Davis student-run clinics. In collaboration with other clinics, R.I.V.E.R. hopes to establish a holistic groundwork for free health care services provided in the Sacramento area.