Dignity Health Gives $861,216 in Community Grants to Help Thousands in Need

Eleven collaborative projects to help the underserved and vulnerable populations in the greater Sacramento region have received Dignity Health community grants to fund programs that address priority health needs in the community, including access to behavioral health services, support healthy eating for children and families and providing a safety-net to victims of sexual exploitation. The grants were given to non-profit organizations who formed partnerships in the community.

Sacramento, CA, February 27, 2018 – Dignity Health, which operates Mercy General Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Methodist Hospital, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital and Woodland Memorial Hospital in the greater Sacramento region, has awarded more than $860,000 in community grants to 11 collaborative proposals across Sacramento, Yolo and Nevada counties.

All 11 projects address priority needs identified in the most recent Community Health Needs Assessments conducted by the hospitals, including access to behavioral health services, active living and healthy eating, and homelessness. “Dignity Health Community Grants will help the most underserved and vulnerable populations in our region receive much-needed services,” said Laurie Harting, senior vice president, operations, greater Sacramento service area. “These collaborative proposals allow us to form strategic partnerships between community based organizations that link services directly to our hospitals, leveraging resources to address priority health issues to build a greater continuum of care for those we serve.” In Sacramento County,

$700,516 in community grants have been awarded to eight partnerships:

1. Dementia Care and Support Navigation: Partners will focus on connecting patients with Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairments and their caregivers to community services. Integrating education, emotional support, economic assistance and safety services will improve the lives of persons with Alzheimer’s and caregivers.
   1.  Lead Organization: Alzheimer’s Association of Northern California
   2. Partners: Del Oro Caregiver Resource Center, Rebuilding Together and Mercy Medical Group—Geriatrics Division (in-kind)
2. Healthy Women and Families: Provides an easily accessible, strong safety net to victims of commercial sexual exploitation and at-risk young women. The program will help stabilize and ensure that the most vulnerable receive a coordinated system of support capable of addressing the individual and family needs that often lead to a pattern of continued abuse, exploitation, and poor health outcomes.
   1. Lead Organization: Community Against Sexual Harm (CASH)
   2. Partners: City of Refuge, I-CAN Crime Victims Assistance Network and Chicks in Crisis
3. Recreate for Health: Focused on bringing youth, who may not otherwise have access to recreation, to the outdoors for positive, healthy experiences. The program will allow youth to relax both mentally and physically in the outdoors at various locations throughout Sacramento County while participating in an activity led by adults who are positive role models. 
   1. Lead Organization: American River Parkway Foundation
   2. Partners: Always Knocking, Hooked on Fishing and Bike Lab
4. Navigation to Wellness: The program focuses on decreasing the overutilization of hospital services by individuals with behavioral health problems through the use of a Wellness Navigation Team that supports the individual with linking to public general mental health services. The team is comprised of hospital intervention specialists (HIS), a peer support specialist, and peer advocate who will work closely with Dignity Health to assist in linking patients to outpatient behavioral health services that are necessary in order to prevent the need for further hospital services. The navigation team will also provide a warm handoff to appropriate linkages with public and general behavioral health services. 
   1. Lead Organization: Turning Point Community Programs
   2. Partners: Consumer Self Help Center, Strategies for Change and NAMI
5. Addressing Mental Health through Community Support and Engagement: This collaborative will deliver the ‘Know your Health Care Rights” curriculum via promotores and provide access to both primary care and behavioral health services, including dance therapy, to the undocumented population. 
   1. Lead Organization: Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
   2. Partners: Vision y Compromiso, La Familia Counseling Center and Sacramento Native American Health Center (in-kind)
6. Food Exploration and School Transformation (FEAST): FEAST focuses on increasing vegetable consumption among low-income kids and families by creating a full circle connection for students in which they can grow their food, consume the same produce in the cafeteria, and learn to cook or prepare this food during the same month, which we call the Vegetable of the Month. Through this partnership, the team provides students with a comprehensive understanding of their local food system, helping students understand the impact of their food choices on their health, economy and environment, and importantly, empowering students to increase their consumption of vegetables, including seasonal produce grown locally.
   1. Lead Organization: Food Literacy Center
   2. Partners: Soil Born Farms, Health Education Council and Sacramento City Unified School District (in-kind)
7. Outreach and Services for Individuals and Families Experiencing Abuse and Trauma: Partners will provide access to services to address victims’ immediate needs for crisis-based services, basic needs, and needs for services to promote recovery and healing from their trauma. The collaborative will also conduct outreach and training for care providers, first responders, and community partners to enable them to identify individuals and families in the target population of victims of violence, abuse and trauma, and direct outreach to the target population. 
   1. Lead Agency: Stand Up Placer
   2. Partners: Kids First and Ride To Walk
8. Co-occurring Substance Use Disorder Treatment Program: The collaborative will offer access to a broad array of co-occurring treatment options for a population with numerous challenges, including those experiencing homelessness. Partners will provide a warm hand off in which patients will receive a safe and non-judgmental venue to discuss current struggles around substance use and homelessness. The program will provide substance use disorder assessments, group and individual treatment onsite, and education for program staff around all forms of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) options.
   1. Lead Organization: TLCS, Inc.
   2. Partners: TCORE, Loaves and Fishes, WellSpace Health and Harm Reduction Services

In Yolo County, an $82,717 community grant has been awarded to two collaborative proposals: 

1. Enhanced Mental health Crisis and Follow-up: Community partners aim to address the limited access to behavioral health services by expanding intervention and preventative services to vulnerable individuals in our community who are experiencing mental health crises. The program will focus on prevention, limiting crises, and following up appropriately. This includes the facilitation of direct referrals and follow-up with community based behavioral health providers including Safe Harbor, which provides crisis residential services designed to limit the impact of mental health crises.
   1. Lead Organization: Yolo Community Care Continuum
   2. Partners: Suicide Prevention of Yolo and Davis Community Meals
2. Prevention Wraparound and Peer Parent Partner Services: The collaboration will provide access to wrap-around and peer parent partner services to families at risk of child abuse or neglect and involvement with the child welfare system. In partnership with the birth center at Woodland Memorial Hospital, the community organizations will also provide services to families in areas of highest need to keep them healthy and whole.
   1. Lead Organization: Yolo Crisis Nursery
   2. Partners: Stanford Youth Solutions and Yolo County Children’s Alliance

In Nevada County, a $77,983 community grant has been awarded to one collaborative proposal:

1. Direct Access to Treatment Pilot Program: Through the creation of a direct-referral process between the partner agencies, the pilot will provide an innovative approach to increasing access to substance abuse disorder treatment. A designated counselor will also support patients to help navigate the most efficient avenue to enter in-patient treatment. The program will also assist patients in accessing primary care services and medical assessment which is necessary for appropriate detoxification.
   1. Lead Organization: Community Recovery Resource (CoRR)
   2. Partners: Grass Valley Police Department and Western Sierra Medical Clinic

Grants are funded by contributions from Dignity Health’s member hospitals. In the greater Sacramento region, Dignity Health hospitals that contribute to the grants program are Mercy General Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital and Woodland Memorial Hospital. Across the Dignity Health system, 97 community grants were awarded totaling $5.1 million.

 

About Dignity Health’s Greater Sacramento Service Area

Dignity Health operates six hospitals in the Greater Sacramento Service Area - Mercy General Hospital, Mercy Hospital of Folsom, Mercy San Juan Medical Center, Methodist Hospital of Sacramento, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital and Woodland Memorial Hospital; as well as Mercy Home Health and Hospice, and Dignity Health Medical Foundation, which includes Mercy Medical Group, Woodland Care Center, Davis Care Center and Mercy Imaging Centers. Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. In FY17, Dignity Health provided $2.6 billion in charitable care and services. For more information, please visit our website at dignityhealth.org/Sacramento. You can also follow us on Twitter @DignityHlthSac and Facebook.com/DignityHealthSacramento.