Catholic Health Initiatives Presents 38 Grants For Building Healthy Communities

Catholic Health Initiatives, the nation’s second-largest Catholic health care system, has awarded grants totaling more than $3.2 million for the planning, development and implementation of initiatives to promote healthy communities in the U.S. and around the world.

The grants from the Catholic Health Initiatives Mission and Ministry Fund will provide funding for a wide array of community programs being developed or implemented to improve the health of communities. Since it was established in 1996 with guidance from the health system’s founding congregations, the Mission and Ministry Fund has awarded 347 grants totaling more than $41.6 million.

This year’s grants will fund a diverse set of initiatives, from a project focused on increasing access to health care resources for low-income residents of affordable housing in Tacoma, WA, to a project designed to empower women and families in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

The grants awarded this year include 22 grants that will support efforts to eliminate violence and the negative effect it has on the health of individuals and communities. “Violence prevention is a systemwide, long-term commitment for CHI, and we’re very proud of the work being done by our ministries and their partners in our communities,” said Kevin Lofton, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Health Initiatives. “Some of our facilities are beginning the process of working with their communities to identify their highest priorities for violence prevention. Others have progressed to implementing prevention efforts for specific types of violence, such as bullying, relationship violence and reducing gang recruitment.”

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 2012 Mission and Ministry Fund grants include:

Project Grants

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH
Shepherd’s Corner Ecological Center, $67,925 over two years

Flaget Memorial Hospital, Bardstown, KY
Bardstown at Home, $77,200 over three years

Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney, NE
Project Search, $121,442 over three years

Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation, Cincinnati, OH
Increasing Healthcare Access Through Volunteers, $200,000 over two years

Mercy College of Health Sciences, Des Moines, IA
Maroons in Health Sciences, $94,802 over three years

Mercy Foundation, Roseburg, OR
Patient Voice, $45,539

Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation, Grand Island, NE
Outreach Education and Screening Project, $113,015 over three years

Unity Family Healthcare/St. Gabriel’s Hospital, Little Falls, MN
Live Better! Live Longer! Start Strong Project, $114,526 over three years

Project Planning Grants

Alegent Health, Omaha, NE
Faith Community Health Home Project, $55,000

Mercy Housing Northwest, Seattle, WA
Affordable Housing and Health Care Integration, $30,000

International Project Grants

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Centro Santa Catalina, $57,000 over two years

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH
Jamaican Outreach Collaborative, $84,100 over two years

International Project Planning Grants

CHI Colorado Foundation/St. Anthony Health Foundation, Lakewood, CO
Alma Mater Hospital, Haiti, $95,000

KentuckyOne Health, Lexington, KY
Belize Outreach Program, $45,921

Violence Prevention Start-Up Grants, Year 1

Carrington Health Center, Carrington, ND, $11,200

Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Little Falls, MN, $23,700

Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney, NE, $56,255

Lisbon Area Health Services, Lisbon, ND, $12,600

Mercy Hospital, Devils Lake, ND, $8,575

Mercy Hospital, Valley City, ND, $16,455

Mercy Medical Center, Williston, ND, $9,300

Oakes Community Hospital, Oakes, ND, $13,474

Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Nazareth, KY, $25,000

St. Joseph’s Hospital and Health Center, Dickinson, ND, $10,500

Violence Prevention Start-Up Grants, Year 2

Dominican Sisters of Peace, Columbus, OH, $67,600

Memorial Health Care System, Chattanooga, TN, $49,840 St.

Catherine Hospital, Garden City, KS, $87,590

St. Mary’s Foundation, Pierre, SD, $86,672

Violence Prevention Implementation Grants

Alegent Health, Omaha, NE, $284,963 over three years

Franciscan Foundation, Tacoma, WA, $300,305 over two years

LakeWood Health Center, Baudette, MN, $24,600 over three years

Mercy Foundation, Roseburg, OR, $110,275

Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines, IA, $169,073 over three years

Saint Francis Medical Center, Grand Island, NE, $230,280 over three years

St. Joseph Regional Health Network, Reading, PA, $297,713 over two years

St. Joseph’s Area Health Services, Park Rapids, MN, $115,966 over two years

About Catholic Health Initiatives

Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health organization with headquarters in Englewood, Colo. The faith-based system operates in 19 states and includes 73 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; and two community health-services organizations. Together, those facilities provided $612 million during the 2011 fiscal year in charity care and community benefit, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. With annual revenues of $10.5 billion, CHI ranks as the nation’s second-largest Catholic health care system.