Partners for Health has announced Spring 2022 grants totaling $200,000 for the following initiatives:
Funding to Zufall Health Center will support efforts to achieve Joint Commission Ambulatory Care Accreditation for their network of seven New Jersey-based Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). This grant will be used for consultants to assist in the preparation and submission of the accreditation application, and the subsequent site visit. The accreditation process will enhance the operations for each of Zufall’s FQHCs, including the West Orange site which provides care to 5,000 patients and had a total of 16,000 visits in 2021.
Based on the demand for nurses and the high cost to attend nursing school, Partners for Health is expanding its Nursing Scholarship awards program to 14 scholarships of $7,500 each in 2022 and 2023. To be consistent with our focus on health equity, scholarship recipients must be students with a demonstrated financial need, and students vulnerable to disruption or discontinuation of pursuing a college degree because of discrimination or exclusion due to the social, economic, educational, and/or cultural dimensions of their lives. The Independent College Fund of New Jersey administers this scholarship program.
The Bloomfield Department of Health and Human Services received a grant to subsidize the cost of Farmers’ Market food items for low-income or qualifying residents. These funds will be used to stretch SNAP/WIC/FMNP dollars and improve access to healthy, locally sourced produce.
West Orange has emerged as a leading Age-Friendly Community in Northern New Jersey due to the progressive initiatives implemented to date. To continue this work, a portion of the salary for the Senior Livability Coordinator (SLC) will be funded by a grant to the West Orange Department of Senior Services. The SLC focuses on seniors’ physical and mental health, and enhancing their connectivity and ability to age well.
Northeast Earth Coalition received funding to pay incentives to volunteer coordinators of 16 Free Little Pantries that provide 24/7 access to food in our local communities. The coordinators manage efforts of the 267 volunteers who keep these pantries stocked. NEEC works in collaboration with pantry hosts located at houses of worship, the Bloomfield Public Library, two private homes, and one business. All of the pantries are in easily accessible, public spaces.
New Jersey does not have the infrastructure and policies in place to ensure that all residents have access to dental care. The State’s water is not fluoridated, and it does not have a school sealant program. A grant to the Kindersmile Foundation will support a documentary film that will advocate for oral health for all New Jerseyans. Kindersmile’s current advocacy efforts include a pilot program for perinatal oral health that is being considered for funding by the N.J. legislature.
Nancy’s Place, Covenant House’s Program for Specialized Behavioral Health Care, received a grant for Montclair YMCA memberships and swimming lessons for the youth they serve, ages 18-24. The goal is to provide access to exercise that will improve participants’ mental health and reduce anxiety and depression. Located in Montclair, Nancy’s Place provides single bedrooms for 8 young people, 24-hour support and supervision, and individualized mental health treatment.