Alliance Healthcare Foundation Awards $1M in Mission Support Grants to San Diego, Imperial County Non-profits Serving Most Vulnerable Populations

SAN DIEGO, March 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- For the ninth consecutive year, Alliance Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has awarded Mission Support grants to nonprofit organizations committed to advancing health and wellness in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

The recipients were selected March 16, 2018, after a detailed application and selection process that began in fall 2017.

The 2018 recipients in San Diego County are:  Angels Foster Family Network, Bastyr University, Casa de Amparo, ElderHelp of San Diego, Embrace, Environmental Health Coalition, Just In Time for Foster Youth, Monarch School Project, Multicultural Health Foundation, Neighborhood House Association, San Diego Center for Children, San Diego Hunger Coalition, UCSD Student Run Free Clinic, and Voices for Children.

In Imperial County, the 2018 Mission Support grant recipients are:  Cancer Resource Center of the Desert, Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Imperial County, Imperial Valley Continuum of Care Council, Imperial Valley Food Bank, Imperial Valley LGBT Resource Center, and Neighborhood House of Calexico, Inc.

"Through the Mission Support Grant program, AHF aims to provide funding to organizations that advance health and wellness for those in need. Grants are awarded to nonprofits in San Diego and Imperial Counties who serve the most vulnerable of our populations: the poor, children, elderly and the homeless," said Elizabeth Dreicer, Interim AHF Executive Director. "The 2018 Mission Support Grant amounts range from $25,000 to $100,000 per recipient, totaling $1 million. These 21 organizations can use the funding we provide as they see fit, allowing them to apply the grant in a way that best meets the most pressing needs of the people they serve."

"Our Mission Support Grants program continues to provide core operating support to organizations working to improve the health and wellness of underserved populations in San Diego and Imperial Counties," said Interim AHF Board Chair, Dr. Joe Ramsdell.

Don Wells, Executive Director of Just In Time For Foster Youth explains, "Through AHF's core operating grant Mission Support Program, AHF models what mission-driven collaboration looks like. This program allows us to be more adaptive to the evolving needs of the transitioning foster youth we serve daily. We're encouraged to spend our time thinking about what works, not what's likely to get funded."

According to Moisés Barón, Ph.D., President and CEO, "This grant will allow the San Diego Center for Children to improve access, timely care and a more effective, family-centered treatment approach for children, teens and their families who are struggling with mental, emotional or behavioral health disorders... help[ing] our organization better address the poor outcomes currently associated with the health and well-being of at-risk, transition age youth... becoming independent, successful adults."

AHF's Mission Support program objectives are to seek, support and trust organizations that are closest to those we aim to serve by providing core operating support to advance our mission and do the most good for the most people?the individuals and families that your organizations support. This is a tall order as AHF estimates that, there are 1.3M individuals in San Diego and Imperial Counties that live below the self-sufficiency rate. (The Self-Sufficiency Standard measures how much income a family of a certain composition in a given place needs to adequately meet their basic needs?without public or private assistance. SOURCES:  The 2016 American Community Survey https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/, CPI https://www.cpisandiego.org/reports/poverty_report_2016 and https://insightcced.org.)  

"We look forward to working with the 2018 Mission Support grantees," Dreicer said. "It's vital to our mission to support great organizations. AHF recognizes that our limited capital is insufficient to meet the current needs. Consequently, we and other funders?both public and private?must continue to work to evolve our current paradigm."

To learn more about Alliance Healthcare Foundation's Mission Support Grant program, visit http://AllianceHF.org/grants/mission-support/.

About Alliance Healthcare Foundation

Alliance Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a San Diego-based foundation that works with nonprofit, government and community agencies to advance health and wellness throughout the San Diego and Imperial Counties. AHF works to serve the most vulnerable?the poor, children, elderly and the homeless?by providing grants, advocacy and education to support its region. AHF envisions a San Diego and Imperial County region where equitable health resources lead to universal health and well-being. AHF believes all people have a desire to be well. Wellness is a state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Wellness is personal and is not the same for everyone. Individuals need information and support to make positive choices for a more successful existence.

AHF currently operates a portfolio of 5 programs: I2 is our "innovation initiative", also referred to as "venture philanthropy"?based on the thesis that innovation capital (often high risk, high reward) is needed to transform our current paradigm and improve quality, increase capacity and reduce costs; Mission Support?based on the thesis that trusting those closest to our constituents and providing core operating support for great organizations will best advance our mission; Responsive Grants?based on the thesis that it is important to be responsive to time sensitive community needs and opportunities; InvestUp?based on the thesis that it is important to actively and strategically be looking for ways to meaningfully advance our mission and it is worth spending some or all of our corpus?beyond the earnings off of our endowment if we can substantively and sustainability positively change the dynamics; and, Program Related Investments?also referred to as "impact investments" is based on the thesis that we can activate our investment portfolio to achieve more positive impact.

SOURCE Alliance Healthcare Foundation