views from the fielf by brenda solorzano & erin switalski

Rural Food Insecurity: COVID-19 and Beyond

According to Feeding America, one in ten people and one in six children face hunger in our state (Feeding America 2020). As a foundation focused on the social and economic barriers to health, food insecurity has always been important to us

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Educating Health Care Teams by the Zip Code

In 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and John A. Hartford Foundation envisioned a national program to support advanced practice nurse faculty members to create sustained and vibrant academic-community partnerships with the goal of improving population health in their own communities and zip codes.

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Investing in Rural Communities to Achieve Health Equity

Some years ago, in reference to Georgia’s economy, the claim was made of the existence of two Georgias: one, the vibrant metropolitan areas of the state; the other, rural Georgia – described as its poor economic cousin. Today, this Two Georgias distinction applies to the growing disparities in health and health care between the metropolitan areas and rural communities, home to nearly 2 million Georgians.

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vff by Brian Byrd & Joseph Smyser

Lies, Bots, and Coronavirus: Misinformation’s Deadly Impact on Health

We know social media has been awash in lies, rumors, and distortions about COVID-19 and vaccines, among many other subjects. Research has shown that bots, autonomous programs that can spread spam or a virus over a network like the internet, that operate within social media are accelerating the spread of these lies at light speed.

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Views from the field by Bruce Chernof

Broadening the Role of Philanthropy in Rethinking Aging

When someone turns 65, they have roughly 8,000 days ahead of them, almost a third of their life. Why are these 8,000 days so invisible?

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Views from the field by Vinny Demarco

Reflections from 2020 Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy Recipient

My organization, the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative (MCHI) Education Fund, has made tremendous progress in expanding access to quality, affordable health care and improving public health. These achievements have only been possible because of our great fortune to work with a bold philanthropic community that is invested in strategic advocacy and public health.

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Views from the field by Peggy Maguire

COVID-19: Why We Need Palliative Care More Than Ever

Peggy Maguire, President, Cambia Health FoundationSenior Vice President, Palliative Care Solutions, Cambia Health Solutions Cambia Health Foundation, the corporate foundation of Cambia Health Solutions, purposefully invests in health care system transformation, making the journey more person-focused and economically sustainable from birth to natural completion of life. Through our signature program, Sojourns®, we invest in palliative…

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Reflections from 2020 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy Recipient

Terrance Keenan believed that people and ideas are the heart of philanthropic leadership. He observed that grantmakers need “an astute sense of what is significant—not only the quality of the ideas underlying the proposal but the quality of the people behind the ideas.” In his view, effective grantmakers “proactively and constantly seek out the best ideas, people, and institutional systems to advance a foundation’s goals.” Terrance Keenan’s beliefs and observations have never been more relevant than today.

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Views from the field by Howard Nochumson

COVID-19: The Eleventh Plague

In a time of crisis, the usual response of the philanthropic world is to focus on the provision of direct assistance. While such a response is admirable in most crisis situations, COVID-19 presents new challenges that may call for us to go against that initial impulse.

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Views from the Field by Frances G. Padilla

Philanthropy’s Role in Health Justice, Before and After COVID-19

So many people here in Connecticut and across the country live deep beneath the affluent surface. This virus, like the infrared technology, has highlighted the fault lines in our fragmented health care system through which many of them are falling.

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