Highmark Foundation (Pittsburgh, PA)
Nonprofit organizations across Highmark Health’s footprint, which includes Pennsylvania, western and northeastern New York, West Virginia, and Delaware, received awards for their commitment to drive progress for health equity through the enterprise’s second annual Highmark Bright Blue Futures Awards Program. Made possible by the Highmark Foundation, the awardees received grant funding, totaling $490,000.
The annual Highmark Bright Blue Futures Awards Program launched in 2023 as an expansion of Highmark’s corporate giving and community involvement program, Highmark Bright Blue Futures. This program is designed to ensure healthier, brighter, stronger futures for all and aims to improve outcomes in Community Health and Community and Economic Resilience. The awards program received nearly 250 applications, each scored through a rigorous process.
The following organizations received a Highmark Bright Blue Futures Signature Award:
- Center for Population Health’s vision is to empower the community where all people have access to equitable health opportunities in their service area. Its work has resulted in over 2,200 referrals leading to over 10,000 contacts made with participants and over 5,000 pathways opened to address social determinants of health needs.
- Maternity Care Coalition is advancing maternal and child health and early care and education throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware. Serving over 5,000 families in the last year, they break down health equity barriers with wraparound services including case management, early education services, doula and lactation support, family therapy, and workforce development.
- Mid-Atlantic Mothers’ Milk Bank fulfills the need for a reliable supply of safe and ethically sourced donor milk for medically fragile infants in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and surrounding areas. With one in 10 babies born preterm in the United States, donor milk can significantly improve their health outcomes. The Mid-Atlantic Milk Bank gives every baby a fighting chance. They have seen a 90 percent decrease in a devastating condition that disproportionately affects premature infants.
- Buffalo Urban League’s mission is to empower African Americans, other minorities and disadvantaged individuals to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights. More than 100,000 community members have been provided services to cope with mental health issues and tragic events. Examples of their work include providing vital mental health support to over 11,000 individuals and training community health workers to bridge the gap between health care providers and underserved communities.
- Westside Family Healthcare’s mission is to improve the health of the Delaware community by providing equal access to quality health care. Westside Family Healthcare is the largest nonprofit Federally Qualified Health Center in the state, serving more than 27,000 patients each year in underserved, diverse communities.
Additionally, the following organizations received mini grants through the program’s Rising Star awards, recognizing organizations and programs that have demonstrated promise through unique ideas to impact community health:
- Catholic Charities
- Hudson Headwaters Health Network
- Latino Community Center
- Pennsylvania CASA Association
- Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health
- Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital Foundation
- Penn State Health
- Roswell Park Alliance Foundation
- South End Children’s Café
- West Virginia Health Right
Contact: Emily Kostelnik at 412.552.0402 or emily.kostelnik@highmarkhealth.org.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, NJ)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced the 10 communities chosen as finalists for the 2024 RWJF Culture of Health Prize. The prize honors the work of communities at the forefront of addressing structural racism and other injustices to advance health, opportunity, and equity for all. Since its launch in 2013, the prize has recognized more than 60 communities across the country, inspiring change and highlighting community-led solutions.
The following finalist communities are one step closer to the national prize:
- City of Jurupa Valley, California
- City of Trenton, New Jersey
- Dan River Region, North Carolina and Virginia
- Eleven federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin and one federally recognized tribe in Michigan
- Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Juneau, Alaska
- Lower Eastern Shore, Maryland, and Sussex County, Delaware
- Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
- Molokaʻi, Hawaii
- Sacramento, California
The 2024 prize winners will be announced next summer and will receive a $250,000 award and opportunities to share their story and lessons learned with the country.
Contact: 877.843.7953.