North Penn Community Health Foundation
Awards $132,000 in Grants
LANSDALE, PA – The North Penn Community Health Foundation
awarded 4 grants totaling $132,000 to local health and human services
agencies to improve the quality and accessibility of health care for
under and uninsured residents and to strengthen the capacity of agencies
to better serve at-risk population’s in our community.
The Greater North Penn Collaborative for Health and Human Services
was awarded two grants for a total of $80,000. The Collaborative’s
mission is to provide educational opportunities on issues affecting
health and human services, to advocate for health and human services
and to serve as an impartial forum for the community to come together
to document community needs to define the nature and scope of effective
services and to design programs based on community strengths and needs.
A grant of $50,000 over nine months will establish a comprehensive
oral health program in the North Penn Community. Through this grant,
the basic infrastructure of this program will be developed to support
a streamlined system of oral health services including educational,
preventative and restorative services.
“This program brings together the Montgomery County Community College’s
oral health initiative, the North Penn Visiting Nurse Association Children’s
Clinic and the Gwynedd Mercy College’s Adult Wellness Center. Through their
efforts the Collaborative was able to secure federal funds to purchase portable
dental equipment that will be utilized to make restorative oral health services
available,” said Russell Johnson, executive director of the Foundation. “This
program is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished through partnering
with existing service providers to strengthen the system of health care for the
residents of our community”.
An additional grant of $30,000 over six months will support completion
of the capacity building work the Collaborative started last year.
Additionally, the Collaborative will convene a community visioning
day bringing leaders in the community together to develop a collaborative
response to the recommendations recently published in the BoomerANG
study.
Healthlink was awarded $32,000 over one year to sustain or enhance
access to direct patient care services for uninsured adults. Through
this grant Healthlink will provide primary care, medications and dentistry
to nearly 200 uninsured patients who reside in the Foundation’s
service community
A $20,000 grant to A Woman’s Place will help complete capacity
building efforts initiated by its board. A Woman’s Place is a
domestic violence shelter that provides temporary housing services
to support abused women and their children.
North Penn Community Health Foundation
Press Release – February 10, 2006
