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Kaiser Permanente Community Fund Awards $2.5 Million to Improve Health

December 13, 2013
 

The  Kaiser  Permanente  Community  Fund  (KPCF)  has  awarded  more  than  $2.5  million  in  grant  funds  to  20  organizations  that  improve  health  in  Oregon  and  southwest  Washington.  Awarded  annually,  these  grants  address  the  “upstream”  or  underlying  factors  that  impact  community  health.  

 

Within  the  context  of  health  care  reform  and  improved  health,  the  fund  currently  focuses  on  three  specific  social  determinants  of  health:  healthy  beginnings  and  early  childhood  development,  educational  attainment  and  economic  opportunity.  These  focus  areas  were  selected  for  their  ability  to  build  on  community  momentum  and  their  potential  for  long-­‐term  impact.    

 

“For  too  many  of  us,  conditions  where  we’re  born,  learn  and  live  limit  our  choices  and  our  opportunity  to  be  healthy,”  said  Nichole  Maher,  president  of  Northwest  Health  Foundation.  “The  Kaiser  Permanente  Community  Fund  supports  organizations  that  are  tackling  these  conditions  in  innovative  ways  that  are  driven  by  the  very  communities  they  seek  to  impact.  We’re  honored  to  support  exactly  this  kind  of  work.”  

 

“Healthy  people  and  communities  depend  on  more  than  the  care  they  get  through  medical  offices  and  hospitals—good  health  starts  where  we  live,  work  and  play,”  added  Sue  Hennessy,  Vice  President,  Strategic  Planning  &  Health  Plan  Services  at  Kaiser  Permanente  Northwest.  “Prevention  and  early  intervention  work.  Investing  in  communities  is  essential  to  improving  the  health  of  our  population  today  and  making  health  care  more  affordable  in  the  long  run.”  

 

Each  project  selected  for  a  KPCF  grant  seeks  to  make  measurable  improvements  in  health  for  individuals  and  families,  while  also  improving  the  long-­‐term  health  of  communities.  Projects  range  from  creating  opportunities  for  people  with  disabilities  to  enter  the  workforce,  expanding  educational  programs  for  Latino  youth  and  families  in  Washington  County,  Oregon,  to  creating  healthier  beginnings  for  children  in  Cowlitz  County,  Washington.    

 

More  information  about  the  fund,  and  the  projects  listed  below,  can  be  found  at  www.nwhf.org/kpcf.  

 

 

 

 

 

-­‐more-­‐  

Kaiser  Permanente  Community  Fund,  p.  2  

 

 

The  following  organizations  received  grants:  

 

Economic  Opportunity                                                                      

 

 

Craft3  

Neighborhood  Prosperity  Initiative  Business  Loan  Program  

 $172,500    

Incight  Company  

Employ  Abilities  

 $50,000    

Latino  Business  Alliance  

Latino  Business  Alliance's  Capacity  Building  Project  

 $50,000    

REACH  Community  Development,  Inc.  

Financial  Empowerment  

 $50,000    

Urban  League  of  Portland  

Workforce  Program  Capacity  Building  Project  

 $49,632    

Verde  

Living  Cully:  A  Cully  Ecodistrict  

 $200,000    

Educational  Attainment  

 

 

Centro  Cultural  of  Washington  County  

STEAM  Expansion  Project  

 $100,000    

Coalition  of  Communities  of  Color  

Advancing  Racial  Educational  Justice  across  Oregon  

 $200,000    

Latino  Network  

Juntos  Aprendemos  /  Together  We  Learn  

 $200,000    

LGBTQ  Community  Center  Fund  

Building  a  Safe  School  Certification  Program  

 $50,000    

OneAmerica  

Building  Power  in  Immigrant  Communities    

 $50,000    

Pathfinders  of  Oregon  

Rockwood  Youth  Violence  Prevention  Initiative  

 $100,000    

Playworks  

Playworks  Pacific  Northwest  

 $200,000    

Early  Childhood  (Healthy  Beginnings)  

 

 

Albina  Ministerial  Alliance  

AMA  House  of  Faith  CHW  Project  

 $200,000    

Catholic  Community  Services    

Fostering  Hope  Initiative  

 $200,000  

Cowlitz  County  Community  Network  

Coordinated  Prevention  System  for  Healthy  Starts  

 $161,095  

Ecumenical  Ministries  of  Oregon  

Rockwood  Food  Opportunity  Project  

 $180,052    

Hacienda  CDC  

Portland  Niños:  Early  Childhood  Intervention  and  Advocacy  

 $50,000    

Oregon  Latino  Health  Coalition  

Health  Equity  Initiative  

 $200,000    

Oregon  Oral  Health  Coalition  

First  Tooth  -­‐  Because  Baby  Teeth  Matter!  

 $50,000    

 

About  KPCF

The  Kaiser  Permanente  Community  Fund  is  a  philanthropic  partnership  between  Kaiser  Permanente  Northwest  and  the  Northwest  Health  Foundation.  Funded  by  Kaiser  Permanente  Northwest  and  distributed  by  Northwest  Health  Foundation,  the  Kaiser  Permanente  Community  Fund’s  objective  is  to  advance  the  health  of  local  communities  served  by  Kaiser  Permanente  Northwest.  

 

The  Kaiser  Permanente  Community  Fund  at  Northwest  Health  Foundation  was  established  with  $28  million  in  2004.  To  date,  the  Community  Fund  has  awarded  $22.5  million  in  public  health  grants  to  more  than  170  organizations  in  Oregon  and  SW  Washington.  The  fund  was  established  to  support  community-­‐ based  efforts  to  enhance  social  factors  that  promote  health  equity  and  help  eliminate  factors  that  contribute  to  health  disparities.  

 

The  Kaiser  Permanente  Community  Fund  is  achieving  real,  effective  health  reform  right  here  in  the  Northwest  by  addressing  the  critical  factors  that  lead  to  healthier  people  and  healthier  places.  

 

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The  mission  of  the  Northwest  Health  Foundation  is  to  advance,  support,  and  promote  the  health  of  the  people  in  Oregon  and  Southwest  Washington.  The  Foundation  invests  in  the  root  causes  of  health  through  communitydriven  solutions  and  seeks  to  ensure  that  the  voices  of  all  people  are  represented  in  health  policy  discussions.  More  information  can  be  found  at  www.nwhf.org.

 

Kaiser  Permanente  is  committed  to  helping  shape  the  future  of  health  care.  Founded  in  1945,  the  organization  serves  the  health  needs  of  more  than  8.4  million  people  nationwide.  More  than  496,000  people  in  Oregon  and  Southwest  Washington  receive  their  health  care  from  Kaiser  Permanente.  For  more  information,  go  to  www.kp.org/newscenter.    

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