North Penn Community Health Foundation Awards $621,000
in Grants
LANSDALE, PA – The North Penn
Community Health Foundation has awarded 7 grants totaling
$621,000 to local nonprofit organizations dedicated to
improving the health and well-being of at-risk populations
in the North Penn communities.
Two grants were awarded to promote access to health services
for at-risk populations including the underinsured and
uninsured. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Association (VNA)
was awarded $150,000 over one year. Grant funds will support
the Children’s Clinic operations and supplement
the cost of providing preventive and restorative oral
health services to children and adults. This grant also
provides continued support for the VNA’s community
education program which provides free health screenings
targeted to disadvantaged populations such as shut-ins,
people with disabilities, the homeless and other special
populations. HealthLink Medical Center was awarded a grant
of $50,000 over one year in continued support of its primary
and oral health care programs. HealthLink provides free
health care services to adults who are employed but receive
compensation of less than 200% of the federal poverty
level and have no insurance benefits.
Two grants were awarded to promote wellness and informed
decision making through prevention and education. The
Health Promotion Council of Southeastern PA (HPC) was
awarded $141,000 over one year in continued support of
the WISE SNAC initiative. Using the evidence-based model
collaboratively developed by the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) and the Institute of Medicine, HPC has been working
with the North Penn, Souderton Area and Wissahickon School
Districts over the past three years providing education
and technical assistance designed to lower the incident
rate of children who are obese or at-risk for becoming
obese. Shockingly, one-third of the children in these
three school districts meet the CDC’s criteria for
being obese or at risk for becoming obese. Expanding on
the work completed, HPC will conduct a nutritional analysis
of all the cafeteria foods sold to faculty and students
and provide various types of communications and tools
to assist families in making choices best suited to their
nutritional needs. HPC will coordinate and promote other
wellness promotion activities attempting to improve the
integration of healthy eating efforts in the home, school
associations, local restaurants and local fitness centers.
HPC will also work with each district on its vending machine
policies and contractual agreements with vending firms
to create healthy food selections that are accessible
to students during and after school. To ensure adequate
nutrition for children over the summer months, HPC will
assist community organizations to enroll in the USDA summer
program. In connection with the Greater North Penn Collaborative
for Health and Human Services, HPC will coordinate a Community
Summit on the topic of childhood obesity.
The Food Trust was awarded $100,000 over one year in
renewed support and expansion of the North Penn Community
Nutrition Program. Over the past two years the Food Trust
has engaged more than half of the local community emergency
food providers to form the Community Nutrition Coalition.
The Trust has been helping local food cupboards to expand
donations of fresh produce, learn how to prepare these
healthier foods and incorporate them into their diets
and to raise overall awareness about the connection between
maintaining good health, consuming healthier foods and
in engaging in regular physical activity, especially among
lower income families. Over the next year the Trust plans
to continue working with Coalition members to provide
additional resources and coordination of programs and
services. The Coalition plans to address the rising demand
for emergency food by increasing donations of fresh and
other health foods, providing support for meal programs
targeted to vulnerable populations and increasing referrals
for food stamp participants. It plans to work with Coalition
members to enable them to directly enroll their clients
in the food stamp program from their sites. Efforts to
increase public awareness of the Coalition’s initiatives
are also planned. Through the development of plans to
identify alternative funding sources and expand the base
of volunteers the Trust plans to provide the Coalition
with the ability to sustain its activities in the future.
Additional plans include continuing the engagement of
youth and older adults to improve food security through
school-based, after-school and community gardening projects.
Other grants awarded include:
$80,000 over two years to the Montgomery County Foundation
in support of InfoLink, the Montgomery County web-based
resource directory;
$75,000 to Indian Valley Housing Corporation in support
of the merger of Indian Valley Housing Corporation and
Indian Valley Opportunity Center; and
$25,000 to the North Penn YMCA in support of the completion
of a facilities master plan for the Lansdale branch, implementation
of technology upgrades and completion of a business plan.
