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Health Forward awards $4.5 million in Safety Net Grants

Kansas City, MO — Health Forward Foundation is proud to award $4.5 million in grants to 28 nonprofit organizations through our 2020 Safety Net funding.

Funding supports improved access to physical health care and oral health care for all communities in our service area.

“These essential organizations ensure that everyone in our region has access to high quality medical and oral health services. Their critical work means more people have the opportunity to live healthy and potentially longer lives,” said Qiana Thomason, Health Forward Foundation President/CEO.

Health Forward received 48 proposals totaling nearly $9.1 million in requests.

The following grants were awarded during the December board of directors meeting:

AgencyAwardGrant Description
Artists Helping The Homeless$100,000To improve health care coordination, efficiency, and outcomes for people in Kansas City.
BlaqOut$100,000To facilitate improved health care and access to preventive HIV medication for Black queer men and trans women who are significantly at risk of HIV infection and other health issues.
Caritas Clinics (Duchesne Clinic)$157,000To provide a wide array of primary health services, care navigation, and wrap-around support for uninsured, Hispanic residents of Wyandotte Co.
Cass Community Health Foundation$189,000To achieve improved oral health outcomes for children in Cass Co. by providing dental services that are high quality, compassionate, and culturally sensitive.
Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas$200,000To provide medical, dental, and behavioral health services to residents of Allen Co.
Community Health Council of Wyandotte County$250,000To improve access to quality health care and decrease associated costs for communities in Wyandotte Co. by improving care coordination, patient/provider relationships, and disease management.
El Centro$198,100To improve access to quality, affordable health care services for Latino communities in Wyandotte and Johnson counties.
Health Care Collaborative of Rural Missouri$200,000To provide comprehensive health services to more than 2,400 people in Lafayette Co.
Health Partnership Clinic$280,000To provide health care services for residents of Johnson Co.
Jewish Family Services$85,085To provide care management to older adults, improve their health outcomes, and offer support as they safely age in place in their own homes and communities.
Jewish Vocational Service$54,500To implement the Refugee-Immigrant Health Access program, which facilitates a coordinated system of health care services for newly arriving refugees. The program works collaboratively with health care providers to advocate for language access and cultural competency.
KC CARE Health Center$335,000To provide quality, affordable, and accessible health care to 14,000 people in Kansas City.
KU Endowment$50,000To improve health and patient satisfaction by providing urgent and specialty care. Funding will expand the number of services available to patients and continue to support high-quality care using the latest supplies and equipment.
Level Up Kids$157,000To support uncompensated care associated with providing a safety net dental home to 3,575 children living in Kansas City, Missouri, through free access to comprehensive, in-school oral health care.
Mercy and Truth Medical Missions$112,500To achieve optimal health for residents of Wyandotte and Johnson counties by providing high-quality, accessible, patient-centered health care, including prevention, treatment, and monitoring.
Mid-America Regional Council Community Services Corporation$250,000To improve patient health outcomes and reduce costs for hospital systems by collaborating with KC CARE Health Center to expand the Care Coordination program, which supports community health workers in serving 2,750 patients.
Migrant Farmworkers Assistance Fund$105,000To provide intensive health care case management for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in rural Lafayette Co.
Missouri Coalition for Oral Health$35,000To integrate teledentistry into existing health services in Lafayette Co. and increase oral health access for all community members.
Northland Health Care Access$70,000To link patients to primary and oral health care, and support an advertising/marketing campaign to reduce health inequities.
Oral Health Kansas$60,000To connect children with intellectual and developmental disabilities to dental homes by collaborating to address a significant Medicaid dental coverage gap in Kansas City and Allen Co.
Rodgers Health$100,000To provide continued support for Rodgers Health dental, behavioral health, primary care, and social support services.
Rose Brooks Center$105,000To provide domestic violence survivors with critical health care services, a long-term medical home, and resources as they transition out of Rose Brooks Center.
Seton Center$192,500To achieve better, long-term health outcomes; restored oral health; better care through greater access; improved patient satisfaction; and more affordable health care for patients.
Sharon Lee Family Health Care$250,000To provide accessible, quality, health services with a focus on under-resourced populations. Funds will also support COVID-19 care and extra services not currently supported through fee-for-service work.
Swope Health$375,000To provide comprehensive, integrated, primary-care services residents of Greater Kansas City.
Synergy Services$131,815To provide integrated, youth-focused health care for, runaway, under-resourced, and at-risk children.
Thrive Allen County$97,500To improve health care coordination provided to residents of Allen Co. by reaching those who are home-bound or lacking transportation.
Vibrant Health$260,000To increase access to health services and improve health outcomes for children and adults living in the urban core of Kansas City, Kansas.

The Safety Net Grants are the final round of foundation defined grants awarded by Health Forward in 2020. For more information on applying for foundation defined grants, visit healthforward.org.

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