The PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement and PacificSource Health Plans recently committed $400,000 in joint funding to support Fostering Hope Initiative. The PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement provided $325,000 in grant funding with PacificSource Health Plans providing the remaining $75,000. Pictured are FHI’s Community Health Workers Carina Garibay, Maria Lemus and Pio Kuor, who are part of a team of eight who are carrying out the essential services funded by the proposal.
FHI is a neighborhood-based, collective impact initiative bringing together partners to ensure every child and youth in every neighborhood lives in a safe, stable, nurturing home, is healthy, succeeds at school, and goes on to financial self-sufficiency. FHI works within high-poverty, high-need neighborhoods to connect families with wraparound supports and community partner networks
“This grant helps ensure that community health workers who are bilingual, bicultural, and who really know the neighbors they’re serving will be able to continue their work on this important effort,” said Marian Blankenship, executive director of PacificSource’s Foundation for Health Improvement.
FHI Community Health Workers Carina Garibay, Maria Lemus and Pio Kuor at work at CCS headquarters on Portland Road in Salem
“We are proud to partner with the PacificSource Foundation to support the important work being done by CCS in the local community where our members live, work, and raise their families,” said Ken Provencher, president and CEO of PacificSource.
“The support from PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement and PacificSource Health Plans is a game changer. It allows us to expand crucial services aimed at strengthening families and communities with a prevention approach, ultimately reducing the need for high-cost health and human services for families in neighborhoods where help is needed most,” said Josh Graves, executive director of Catholic Community Services. “It will impact thousands of lives while also setting the stage for ongoing investment in cost-effective, place-based preventive services.”
Catholic Community Services has 80 years of experience providing social services to the most vulnerable residents in communities throughout the Mid-Willamette Valley and Central Coast. Their mission is realized through 12 programs, reaching more than 5,000 individuals each year.
Pictured is Community Health Worker Paola Ramirez Del Valle with volunteer Becky Jackson hosting a “Breadfast” at Cornerstone Apartments. Local families are invited to meet their neighbors while picking up bread, food and clothing donations.
About PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement
Founded in 1992, the PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement is an expression of our commitment to our communities. Its mission is to improve community health through the touchstones of better health, better care, and lower healthcare costs. The Foundation’s grants and partnerships focus on improving access to healthcare for vulnerable populations and promoting health excellence via innovative care and community health and wellness programs.
About PacificSource Health Plans
PacificSource Health Plans is an independent, regional, not-for-profit community health plan serving the Northwest. Founded in 1933, PacificSource has local offices throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The PacificSource family of companies employs 1,400 people, serves more than 500,000 individuals, and has 3,900 employer clients throughout the Northwest. For more information visit PacificSource.com.