Northwestern Medicine grant initiative directly impacts Kane County
Northwestern Medicine serves patients across more than 10,000 square miles of Northern Illinois. To better address the diverse needs of individual communities, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare launched a grant initiative to address disparities highlighted in local Community Health Needs Assessments.
This funding initiative, which is just one facet of Northwestern Medicine's community giving campaign, offered grants to local agencies supporting specific health and wellness projects. Northwestern Medicine awarded more than $1.7 million to 49 organizations that offer a wide range of services including housing, nutritional needs, transportation, childcare, mental health and primary care.
"Northwestern Medicine is committed to making our community as healthy as it can be," said Posh Charles, senior vice president, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. "This initiative, which is just one way Northwestern Medicine contributes to the community, enhances our ability to provide highly targeted support to partners addressing priority health concerns in their individual locales."
In fiscal year 2021, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare provided more than $1.14 billion in community benefits including charity care and the unreimbursed costs incurred caring for Medicaid and Medicare patients, training tomorrow's health care workforce, conducting medical research, and other community benefits that help preserve access to care for the residents of Chicago, its suburbs and Northern Illinois.
The beneficiaries of the community grants range in size and scope from the YMCA of Metro Chicago to the Oak Forest Chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, an organization that provides fully furnished twin beds for children who sleep on floors, couches and other situations without beds.
Agencies in Kane County who received grants include: Aurora Food Pantry, Mutual Ground, Tri City Health Partnership, VNA Health Care, Northern Illinois Food Bank, People's Resource Center, and Easterseals of DuPage & Fox Valley.
"Our goal is to collaborate and support local agencies to address healthcare disparities across all socioeconomic backgrounds," Charles said. "We sought out organizations that are making a difference by removing barriers to better health."
For example, consistent access to nutrition is the very basis for a healthy child and adult.
The Aurora Food Pantry has seen a 30% increase in visits in just the last few months and provides life-saving nourishment to more than 900 families a week, serving five counties. The Northwestern Medicine grant will support the addition of a licensed clinician on staff at the pantry full time.
"It's not every day that the pantry is contacted by a granting organization asking how they can help us serve our community, and that's just what Northwestern Medicine did. Their support of our food distribution programs is extremely impactful, significant, and will allow us to continue to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in our region," said Katie Arko, senior development director, Aurora Food Pantry. "The Aurora Food Pantry relies solely on donations to keep our doors open and this crucial grant will certainly help us continue our important mission to feed those in need."
Funding for Mutual Ground will support the Breaking Free Co-Occurring Disorder Program, a mental health counseling program helping individuals face their dependence on drugs and alcohol, and work through the trauma that may be associated with it.
"We are grateful to receive this very important funding from Northwestern Medicine in support of our substance use programming. We are seeing an incredibly great need for these services in our community, and we are proud to provide exceptional care to those who come to us seeking help," said Kathy Melone, advancement director, Mutual Ground.
In addition to grant funding, as part of Northwestern Medicine's Team NM initiative, Northwestern Medicine employees build healthier communities through volunteer service and thoughtful actions. Team NM volunteers weed and water the Aurora Food Pantry's Essential Garden, help sort and label food at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, collected coats for Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, put together beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and assembled heart-healthy care packages for patients at Tri-City Health Partnership.
To learn more about Northwestern Medicine, visit nm.org.