Health Forward Awards $888,708 in Applicant Defined Grants

KANSAS CITY, MO – The Health Forward Foundation (Health Forward) approved $888,708 in applicant defined grants at its January board meeting.

“We are proud to award these grants to support the many organizations who strive to eliminate barriers to quality health care in our community,” said Steve Roling, Health Forward President and CEO.

Health Forward awarded the following grants:

$75,000 to the Medical Society of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties Foundation, Inc. to pay for 2008 KCCareLink fees for nine Johnson and Wyandotte County safety net clinics.
$75,000 to the Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry to provide access to photo IDs and copies of birth certificates for poor and homeless persons.
$75,000 to ReDiscover for Integrated Physical and Psychiatric Treatment (IPPT) to ensure that the primary health care needs of adults and children with mental illness are met.
$75,000 to Sheffield Place to partner with the National Center on Family Homelessness, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences and the Midwest Trauma Treatment Center to create a fully trauma-informed atmosphere to improve mental health services to homeless mothers and children.
$75,000 to Swope Health Services for the Medicaid Appeals Project, which will refer Swope patients whose Medicaid benefits have been denied or terminated to Legal Aid of Western Missouri
$75,000 to the Turner House Clinic to expand clinic capacity by adding space and hiring a bi-lingual nurse practitioner, to improve access to care for low-income children in Wyandotte County.
$75,000 to Union Station to pay for approximately 4,516 low-income, middle school students in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas to attend the Bodies Revealed exhibit at Union Station
$74,989 to the University of Kansas Medical Center Research Institute, Inc. to establish a screening clinic at the Heart of America Indian Center to provide uninsured and underserved American Indians with culturally-appropriate health screenings and education.
$73,539 to Cornerstones of Care to fund a portion of start-up costs associated with implementing a Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care program.
$54,180 to the Kansas City Chronic Disease Coalition to support core operations.
$50,000 to Amethyst Place to help support housing for low-income women with a history of substance abuse and their children
$50,000 to Partners in Public Health, Inc for Clean Air Kansas City, which supports grassroots activity focused on smoke-free public places throughout the metro area.
$33,000 to MetroCare to hire a lobbyist to draft legislation to change Missouri statue to expand the State Legal Expense Fund to cover physicians, office staff, medical practices and tertiary care facilities who donate their services to low-income patients in the MetroCARE program.
$28,000 to the Lexington R-V School District to help conduct an evaluation of its Brighter Futures Consortium, which enables the school district to assist as many as 285 students with mental health concerns
In 2008, Health Forward will fund a total of $4 million in Applicant Defined Grants (ADG). Proposals are accepted and reviewed on a regular basis throughout the year. Organizations are allowed to submit one applicant-defined proposal per calendar year. The maximum amount that can be requested is $75,000.