EUGENE, Ore., February 18, 2016 – Kaiser Permanente has awarded $290,000 in grants to three nonprofit organizations that serve Lane County. The grants will support safety net programs and services, economic opportunity, and early life and childhood development.
The grant awards and recipients are:
- $200,000 to Huerto de la Familia (The Family Garden) for the Cambios (Changes) Micro-Development Program
- $50,000 to Centro Latino Americano for its Nuestras Familias (Our Families) program
- $40,000 to the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, a community-supported clinic
Huerto de la Familia and Centro Latino Americano are the recipients of grants through the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund at the Northwest Health Foundation. The fund specifically focuses on addressing the "upstream" factors that affect community health, also known as the social determinants of health.
The Cambios Micro-Development Program aims to increase financial stability and food security among participants through education, training and support for new and existing food and agricultural businesses. According to Huerto de la Familia, the poverty rate among Latinos in Lane County is 24 percent, and the rate of food insecurity among this population is at least 28 percent, more than double that of non-Latinos. The Cambios program will address the need for culturally relevant, Spanish-language business services.
"Cambios will be a vital resource for Latino business startups to access training, guidance and capital," said Marissa Garcia, executive director, Huerto de la Familia. "The program will allow Latino families to successfully develop their businesses while supporting their cultural identity with food and agriculture."
The Nuestras Familias program will pilot a team-based, holistic process to provide mental health services and basic-needs support, such as emergency food boxes and transportation assistance, to Latino families in a culturally and linguistically appropriate way.
The Volunteers in Medicine Clinic grant will support the clinic's Patient Access Program, which focuses on improving access to health care for uninsured and underinsured adults in Lane County. As of August 2015, approximately 9,000 new Oregon Health Plan enrollees lack a primary care physician due to a shortage of providers in Lane County. The clinic will improve access to care through strategies including recruiting more volunteer care providers and community outreach to target populations.
The three nonprofit grant recipients will be recognized at a grand opening event February 18 celebrating Kaiser Permanente's arrival into Lane County. The event will take place from 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Kaiser Permanente Eugene Medical Office, 100 W. 13th Ave. in downtown Eugene.
Kaiser Permanente has made additional investments of more than $150,000 to improve the health of Lane County, in the form of grants, scholarships and nonprofit technical assistance.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 10 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia, including more than 520,000 medical and 250,000 dental members in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, dentists, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical and dental teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.
