Lahey Hospital distributes more than $120,000 in grant funding to seven community organizations
Burlington, Mass. – Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, announced today it is awarding over $120,000 in grant funding to seven community-based organizations. As part of an ongoing community benefits commitment, these grants will provide much needed funding for local organizations in support of their mission to meet their community’s needs. Of particular emphasis for the grant awards are programs and services that focus on food access, mental health, transportation, and housing stability – need areas which have experienced an increased level of demand due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each year grant applications are reviewed and selected by the Lahey Hospital Grant Selection Committee, which is comprised of hospital leaders and local partners from across Lahey Hospital’s service area.
“As a healthcare organization, our number one priority is serving the vital health care needs of those in the communities that we call home,” said David Longworth, MD, President of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. “These annual grants provide on-the-ground organizations with the support that they need to further implement programs and services that improve the everyday health and well-being of their local communities.”
Grant recipients include:
Arlington Council on Aging: The grant money will provide free curb-to-curb transportation to in-person medical appointments for underserved senior populations in Arlington. The COA will use its accessible vans and in partnership with a local taxi company to provide rides. The project aims to provide 100 free round trip medical rides for older adult residents of Arlington.
Burlington Public Schools: Grant money will support a new program at Burlington Public Schools which aims to develop the necessary social and emotional skills and mental health in students for them to be successful in both school and employment. The project will also conduct a district-wide social-emotional and mental health needs assessment.
Caritas Communities: Caritas Communities prevents homelessness by providing very low-income individuals with permanent housing, support, a sense of community and expanded opportunities. Caritas serves more than 1,000 citizens of Greater Boston in 14 communities who would otherwise not be able to afford housing in Massachusetts. The grant money supports the funding of a Resident Services Coordinator at one of the Caritas’ properties. The resident services coordinator meets with house residents on a regular basis to connect them with social service resources, housing support, and activities.
Citizens Inn: Citizens Inn merged with Haven from Hunger, creating one organization to better serve help families and individuals leave hunger and homelessness behind. With the funding, the Haven from Hunger program will hire a part-time Director of Homelessness Prevention exclusively for their site who can provide meetings and consultations for clients of the food pantry who are often also experiencing housing stability issues.
Lowell Community Health Center: Serving a diverse population in the Greater Lowell area, the LCHC employs bilingual providers who can meet the cultural, linguistic, and medical needs of non-English and limited English-speaking populations. Over 80 members of the staff are trained medical interpreters and can assist patients in better communicating with medical professionals. The grant money will allow the organization to provide on-demand translations services for the nearly 40% of the LCHC patients that are best served in languages other than English.
Mill City Grows: Through increased access to land, locally grown food and education, Mill City Grows hopes to foster food justice throughout Lowell that will improve the physical health of its residents, create economic independence and promote environmental sustainability. In partnership with the Lowell Community Health Center, Mill City Grows will use the grant money to directly distribute 40,000 pounds of healthy foods to 100 low-income Southeast Asian and Latinx households that include one member managing diabetes.
Saheli: Saheli is an organization dedicated to addressing the needs of South Asian immigrant women and their families with a focus on domestic violence intervention and prevention services. The grant money will support the Saheli Housing Stabilization Program (SHSP) to provide housing support for domestic violence survivors and their children by making housing accessible and affordable to prevent homelessness.
About Lahey Hospital & Medical Center
Lahey Hospital & Medical Center (LHMC) is a world-renowned tertiary academic medical center known for its innovative technology, pioneering medical treatments and leading-edge research. As a physician-led hospital, LHMC offers a legacy of care and education committed to putting the patient at the center through a multidisciplinary, collaborative and team-based approach. LHMC’s research efforts and clinical trials cross numerous medical disciplines, providing patients with access to the latest options in treatment and care.
LHMC is a part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,700 physicians and 39,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education.
