French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC) recently awarded $31,500 in grant funding to six community nonprofit organizations at a luncheon on January 13, 2009 at 12:00pm. These grants will help provide critical health and human services to residents of San Luis Obispo County
Grants are awarded through a Community Grants Program created by FHMC’s parent company Catholic Healthcare West (CHW). The intent of the annual community grant program is to help nonprofit organizations with an interest in building healthier communities by improving health and living conditions. The criteria for this year’s grant focused on the following areas: cardiac wellness; cancer prevention, resources and education; diabetes prevention and management; prenatal education and outreach to the Latino community; general healthcare education and disease prevention; and outreach to the underserved. Since FHMC began awarding community grants three years ago, it has given $87,000 to non-profits in San Luis Obispo County.
This year, the FHMC Community Grants were awarded to the following local organizations:
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Central Coast Commission for Senior Citizens – to fund the Senior Home Care project which provides in-home services such as cooking, shopping and housekeeping for frail, at-risk older persons in the SLO County - $7,500
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El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) – to help fund program costs to provide emergency shelter for the homeless along with meals and medical care - $5,000
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Economic Opportunity Commission of San Luis Obispo – to fund the Senior Health Screening program, which provides free preventative and maintenance health screening to low-income seniors - $5,200
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Paso Robles Loaves and Fishes – to develop bi-lingual educational materials with a registered dietitian that teach clients about nutrition’s relationship with chronic diseases - $2,600
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San Luis Obispo Hotline – to convert its phone and online resources regarding healthcare, domestic violence, drug abuse and child health into Spanish - $5,000
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Transitional Food and Shelter - to support a 24-hour shelter program for homeless cancer patients to rest, recover and prevent re-hospitalization - $6,200
