Daily Camera: Boulder Community Health Foundation awards $300,000 to health care partners
- Category: General, Foundation
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- Written By: Boulder Community Health
The Daily Camera recently featured a news article about the nine community partners selected to receive $300,000 in Community Collaboration funding provided by the BCH Foundation.
The Community Collaboration Fund (CCF) directly supports partnerships between BCH and community-based organizations that offer programs or services for BCH patients. All CCF grants support BCH’s goal of enhancing the quality and availability of health care in our community and are in alignment with BCH’s vision of partnering to create and care for the healthiest community in the nation.
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Boulder Community Health Foundation awards $300,000 to health care partners
By OLIVIA DOAK | odoak@prairiemountainmedia.com
Originally Published: UPDATED:
Boulder Community Health Foundation has selected nine community partners to receive $300,000 in funding to enhance patient care.
The funding will directly support partnerships between Boulder Community Health and community-based organizations that offer programs or services for the hospital’s patients. The goal is to enhance the quality and availability of health care.
“Whether it’s access to a healthy meal through Project Angel Heart or potentially a pathway to housing … this money is expanding the resources that are available to our team to provide patients (with help) who are incredibly vulnerable and need to have solutions in place,” Boulder Community Health Foundation President Grant Besser said.
Project Angel Heart, one of the grant recipients, is a nonprofit organization that provides medically tailored, nutritious meal delivery to patients. It helps people who can’t easily shop or make their own meals, including those with heart failure, cancer, kidney disease and other severe illnesses.
All meals are created and prepped from scratch daily by professional staff and delivered by volunteers across Colorado, including Boulder and spanning from Greeley to Pueblo.
“We’re super excited at Project Angel Heart because we’ll be able to provide care to patients with critical health needs,” Project Angel Heart Senior Director of Programs Brandy Brogan said.
Project Angel Heart will receive $75,000 this year and $75,000 next year through the grant program. Brogan said the organization’s goal this year is to provide 5,600 meals to Boulder Community Hospital patients. That’s seven entrees per week and eight weeks of meals per person.
Brogan said healthy, medically tailored meals provide a range of benefits proven by research, including better health outcomes, increases in well-being and lower risk of rehospitalization.
“We really do believe nutritious food is medicine for people who are sick, and we want to be able to provide that sustainable nourishment to them while they’re having their health crisis,” Brogan said.
Other grant recipients include All Roads, which provides housing support to medically vulnerable people without homes, and Blue Sky Bridge, which helps pediatric victims of sexual assault. Boulder Alano Club will receive funding to help patients with substance use disorders, and Love for Lily helps families experiencing a premature birth.
Grant recipient TRU Community Care supports patients in need of palliative care services, and Boulder County Public Health will receive funds to support people with lifestyle changes and accessing more fruit and vegetables. Jewish Family Services Boulder supports older adult patients living independently, and funding for the Boulder County AIDS Project will support prevention and testing.
In 2018, Boulder Community Health Foundation rolled out a new vision focused on partnerships. Since then, it has granted more than $650,000 to community partners. This year is the first time it has had an application process for a more formal and large grant. All the money comes from community donors.
“We’re always pushing to redefine, to evolve what it takes for the best care for those vulnerable in our community,” Besser said. “Partnerships are a vital part of that and we hope to continue to expand on that moving forward.”