Education, service, and deep community engagement are at the core of Riverside Medical Clinic Charitable Foundation’s (RMC Charity) bold mission to improve overall health and quality of life for Inland Empire residents.
A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation’s Community Impact Fund will offer new opportunities for the nonprofit to expand its work, particularly with schools and students.
“The grant was a blessing and it’s significant,” said Krystle Joseph, RMC Charity Executive Director. “We can’t stop our programs just because we don’t have the funding for it. This has been such a gift, literally, to know that we can continue with programming and still work on funding in other areas, because these programs just don’t stop.”
Specifically, the grant will help the organization fuel its Ripple Effect programming, made up of free interactive bullying prevention workshops for elementary, middle, and high school students. The unique offering educates students on how their actions and reactions generate ripple effects out into the community and with each other.
“It’s a wonderful program,” Joseph said. “We go into the schools and talk to kids about emotional regulation and kindness as ways to combat bullying. It’s supplemental to the social and emotional learning already happening in the classroom, but they get to hear it from a fun community partner that comes in for a school or classroom assembly to complement what the teachers are already doing.”
These events have been well received and Joseph feels the organization has helped generate positive shifts in perspectives.
“We used to do all our programming under the context of bullying prevention and anti-bullying—those were the words we led with in the past,” she said. “Over the past 18 months, we changed that messaging so that we don’t lead with that negativity. We lead with the positivity.
Therefore, addressing kindness is key.
“It’s such an easy word to receive no matter how old you are,” she said. “You can understand ‘kind’ versus unkind behaviors. All this is registering with the kids. They’re already hearing it from their teachers, but we’ve also been getting a lot of nods from the teachers because it resonates with them as well.”
One unique component finds teachers guiding students in something called “notice it.” Students are asked to notice something, name it, map it, and talk about their emotions.
“That way, when a negative thing happens, first you recognize and name your feelings, then create that path of positivity to how you react to your feelings,” Joseph said. “A lot of times, the teachers are like, ‘Oh, I can take a breath before I react in the classroom.’ And the kids can recognize that. Maybe they’re angry or frustrated that day because they didn’t eat breakfast. Maybe they skipped breakfast and they’re hungry, right? That hangry feeling.”
Other engaging activities complement those methods.
These efforts comprise a greater network of intentions and the nonprofit’s broad reach. A recent Kindness Works workshop, for instance, helped individuals use practical tools, listen to inspiring voices, and spark connection and belonging.
RMC Charity is also involved in National Bullying Prevention Month, which unfolds in October.
Elsewhere, the organization has teamed up with the Riverside Fire Department to offer vital life-saving technology to Riverside. The tech, PulsePoint, allows Emergency Communications Center staff to alert registered responders of individuals in need of CPR in their vicinity. It also informs callers of nearby lifesaving devices, like AED units. These Public Safety Answering Point telecommunicators are significant links in the cardiac arrest chain of survival.
This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, February, 2026.
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