The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation (Owing Mills, MD)
The Weinberg Foundation invested $770,000 in 29 nonprofits as part of the $3 million Summer Funding Collaborative. The initiative supports high-quality summer programs that serve low-income Baltimore City youth. Programs funded served more than 3,700 students, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, and focused on literacy; science, technology, engineering, and math; youth employment; college and career readiness; environmental education; health and overcoming stress and trauma; and enrichment such as sports and the arts.
Phone: 410.654.8500
The PATH Foundation (Warrenton, VA)
The PATH Foundation selected 16 area organizations to receive funding from their most recent round of grant applications, focused on planning and programs. The projects selected relate to one or more of the foundation’s four priority areas: access to care, childhood wellness, mental health, and senior services. A total of $754,186 will be awarded to organizations including Fauquier Community Child Care, Inc. ($34,500 to implement the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Standards adopted by the National Afterschool Association); Fauquier Free Clinic, Inc. ($52,700 grant to expand oral health resources in the region); and Lord Fairfax Community College ($75,000 to expand its Associates of Applied Science in Emergency Medical Services degree and Paramedic Career Studies Certificate programs to the Fauquier Campus that will take effect this fall).
Contact: Amy Petty
Phone: 540.680.4106
Email: apetty@pathforyou.org
W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Battle Creek, MI)
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation grantee, Strong Beginnings, promotes racial equity and father engagement, and works to address issues affecting maternal-child health like poverty, unemployment, limited transportation and a lack of affordable housing.
Of the 825 families Strong Beginnings served in 2015, 25 percent had been homeless, all were living in poverty, and many were dealing with depression and high stress. Despite these challenges, the women showed an amazing resilience and desire to do the best they can for their children.
Strong Beginnings employs 20 community health workers, who educate and encourage women throughout their pregnancies and the first two years of their infants’ lives. Staff go into Grand Rapids’ most vulnerable neighborhoods to listen to the concerns of mothers and enroll them into Strong Beginnings programs. A fatherhood program provides similar services to male partners.
Community health workers partner with nurses and social workers at Kent County Health Department, Cherry Health, and Spectrum Health MOMS on case management teams and connect families to job placement, transportation, and housing resources. They take a holistic approach to improving participants’ overall health with therapists on staff to provide mental health counseling, offering peer support groups and providing tools to help participants develop self-esteem and set goals for themselves and their children.
Strong Beginnings staff also works to combat premature births and low birth weights and has succeeded in keeping the infant mortality rates of its African-American participants below the city’s rate of 11.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
In 2015, the program released a quasi-experimental design study illustrating their impact on clients. The study showed Strong Beginnings’ African-American female clients significantly face more barriers than African-American women on Medicaid in Kent County including poverty and depression, but receive better prenatal care than their counterparts. Among its findings, 65 percent of Strong Beginnings clients receive first trimester prenatal care compared to 58 percent of Medicaid recipients. Additionally, Strong Beginnings clients receive more postpartum exams and well-child visits than Medicaid recipients.
Phone: 269.968.1611
Independence Blue Cross Foundation (Philadelphia, PA)
The Independence Blue Cross Foundation announced the Supporting Treatment and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Initiative, an effort to convene community health providers and resources to increase access to effective prevention and treatment for those struggling with opioid abuse.
STOP kicked off with a forum, hosted jointly by the foundation and the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), attended by more than 80 of the foundation’s Blue Safety Net-supported community health centers and community based organizations in the region. The forum is focused on achieving a better understanding of effective and emerging community-based strategies for opioid prevention and treatment, and sharing best practices among health centers, community, and addiction treatment organizations.
STOP responds to an alarming increase in prescription drug abuse initiation, opioid use, and related deaths. It also includes support around educating youth and community members about prescription drug and opioid use.
Contact: Ruth Stoolman
Phone: 215.241.4807
Email: Ruth.stoolman@ibx.com
HNH Foundation (Concord, NH)
The HNH Foundation awarded $552,031 in grants during its spring 2016 program cycle. The awards benefited 11 health-related initiatives and projects at nonprofit and community organizations across the state. The HNH Foundation makes grants to address change to affect the health of New Hampshire’s youngest and most vulnerable children and their families. Grants awarded included support to increase access to health and dental insurance coverage, community-based oral health services, prevention of childhood obesity, access to locally-grown food, and improved capacity to help infants and young children who have experienced trauma. Multiyear grant recipients include the American Heart Association’s Voices for Healthy Kids statewide network, Seacoast Eat Local, and the Manchester Community Health Center, which recently helped launch ACERT, the Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team. ACERT is providing support to Manchester children who witness or are exposed to violence, and is a collaborative partnership between the Manchester Police Department, local crisis advocates, and mental health providers.
Contact: Gail Garceau
Phone: 603.229.3260
Email: gg@hnhfoundation.org
Healthcare Foundation of Wilson (NC)
Healthcare Foundation of Wilson is investing $1.3 million in community projects that focus on solutions to some of Wilson’s greatest health challenges. Healthcare Foundation of Wilson prioritizes grant funding for projects that focus on sustainable solutions with measurable outcomes to address four of the community’s greatest health concerns, including adolescent pregnancy, alcohol and substance abuse, obesity, and sexually transmitted diseases. The 2016 grant recipients who have received funding for projects that will address one or more of the four areas of health concern include Barton College ($125,000), Wilson County Health Department ($220,000), and Wilson County Substance Abuse Coalition ($45,000).
Contact: Anita Blomme Pinther
Phone: 919.673.9591
Email: anita.blomme@mindspring.com
Blue Shield of California Foundation (San Francisco)
Healthcare Foundation of Wilson is investing $1.3 million in community projects that focus on solutions to some of Wilson’s greatest health challenges. Healthcare Foundation of Wilson prioritizes grant funding for projects that focus on sustainable solutions with measurable outcomes to address four of the community’s greatest health concerns, including adolescent pregnancy, alcohol and substance abuse, obesity, and sexually transmitted diseases. The 2016 grant recipients who have received funding for projects that will address one or more of the four areas of health concern include Barton College ($125,000), Wilson County Health Department ($220,000), and Wilson County Substance Abuse Coalition ($45,000).
Contact: Anita Blomme Pinther
Phone: 919.673.9591
Email: anita.blomme@mindspring.com