Catholic Health Initiatives Presents 32 Grants For Building Healthy Communities

Catholic Health Initiatives has awarded grants of more than $3.4 million for the planning, development and implementation of initiatives to promote healthy communities across the country and around the world.

The grants from Catholic Health Initiatives’ Mission and Ministry Fund will provide funding for a wide array of community programs designed to improve the health of communities. Established in 1996 by the health system’s founding congregations, the Mission and Ministry Fund has awarded 273 grants totaling more than $33 million.

The grants awarded this year include 16 grants to fund violence prevention. “Several of these violence prevention efforts are now in their second year,” said Kevin Lofton, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Health Initiatives. “We have made violence prevention – including domestic violence, child and elder abuse, gun violence and school violence – a systemwide priority.”

Mission and Ministry Fund grants support innovative projects designed to improve the health of a community, often by serving disadvantaged individuals and populations. Applications may be submitted by Catholic Health Initiatives’ affiliated facilities, participating congregations and associated organizations. All supported initiatives must meet an identified community need, invite collaboration with community partners and be replicable in other communities.

The 2010 Mission and Ministry Fund grants include:

Planning Grants

Centura Health, Denver, CO, $50,000

Centura Health at Home

Memorial Health Care System, Chattanooga, TN, $64,180

Improving Health and Wellness in East Chattanooga

Project Grants

Alegent Health, Omaha, NE, $233,095 (over two years)

Breastfeeding Education, Support and Training

Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation, $50,000

The Burundian Refugees Resettlement Project

Intercommunity Mercy Housing, Seattle, WA, $121,200 (over three years)

Supporting Services at New Tacoma Senior Housing

Jewish Hospital & St. Mary‘s HealthCare, $184,651

Making Communities Healthier

Saint Elizabeth Foundation, Lincoln, NE, $314,776

Strategies for Increasing Medical Homes for Those in Need

Saint Francis Medical Center, Grand Island, NE, $187,026 (over three years)

Teen Parenting Project

Saint Joseph – Berea, Berea, KY, $398,610 (over three years)

Berea Health Ministries – Extended Service Project

St. Anthony Health Foundation, $192,080 (over two years)

Bloom Teen Prenatal Care Program

St. Joseph Regional Health Network, $182,360 (over two years)

Right from the Start School Readiness Initiative

St. Vincent Health System, Little Rock, AR, $76,344 (over three years)

Dancing Our Way to a Healthy Future

Unity Family Healthcare/St. Gabriel’s Hospital, Little Falls, MN, $71,171 (over two years)

Healthy Communities Collaborative – Youth and Family Engagement

International Grants

Mercy Regional Medical Center, Durango, CO, $95,368

Sister to Sister – Education & Leadership Development in Tanzania

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Nazareth, KY $130,250

Ministry for Children/Families Infected With or Affected By HIV/AIDS in Belize

St. Anthony Health Foundation, Denver, CO, $200,000

Bach Mai Hospital Project

Violence Prevention Grants

Alegent Health, Omaha, NE, $44,655

Franciscan Health System, Tacoma, WA, $30,500

Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, $29,881

Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, Louisville, KY, $86,051

LakeWood Health Center, Baudette, MN, $3,000

Memorial Health Care System, Chattanooga, TN, $53,000

Mercy Foundation, Roseburg, OR, $63,000

Saint Clare’s Foundation, Denville, NJ, $130,100

Saint Francis Medical Center, Grand Island, NE, $24,809

Saint Joseph – London, London, KY, $95,847

Samaritan Behavioral Health, Dayton, OH, $137,368

St. Francis Healthcare Campus, Breckenridge, MN, $6,650

St. Joseph Regional Health Network, Reading, PA, $148,000

St. Joseph’s Area Health Services, Park Rapids, MN, $58,000

St. Mary’s Community Hospital, Nebraska City, NE, $31,450

Unity Family Healthcare/St. Gabriel’s Hospital, Little Falls, MN, $38,175

About Catholic Health Initiatives

Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health organization with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. The faith-based system operates in 18 states and includes 73 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; and two community health-services organizations. Together, those facilities provided $553 million during the 2009 fiscal year in charity care and community benefit, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. With annual revenues of $8.6 billion, CHI ranks as the nation’s second-largest Catholic health care system.