Somerville Health Foundation Announces Recipients of 2014 Community Funding

Somerville, Mass. - The Somerville Health Foundation (SHF) has announced the recipients of this year’s community funding. Cambridge Health Alliance CEO Patrick Wardell and President of the CHA Foundation and Chief Community Officer Mary Cassesso recently joined SHF trustees to award the grants and honor the 12 organizations that were selected for alignment with the SHF’s priorities. Through this funding, the Foundation strives to promote and support the preventive health efforts to improve health outcomes of the residents of the City of Somerville, Massachusetts.

The focus for this year’s grants is to address the following preventative health priorities, while also addressing local health disparity issues impacting Somerville residents: root causes of disease, health disparities and inequities in health; mental and emotional health, chronic stress prevention/interventions; protective factors to reduce substance abuse, decrease violence or improve mental health; and/or physical activity and food/nutrition programming, infrastructure and/or policy work related to obesity prevention and reduction of diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease.

SHF and CHA trustee Isaac Machado presented each of the 12 nonprofit organizations with checks totaling $28,000, with awards ranging from $500 to $3,500. This year’s SHF grantees are CASPAR, Groundwork Somerville, the Immigrant Service Providers Group, Institute for Community Health, Mass. Farmers Market, Mystic Learning Center, RESPOND, Somerville Council on Aging, Somerville Food Security Coalition, Somerville Homeless Coalition, Universite D’Haiti, and The Welcome Project.

Read more about SHF funding and how it will help its recipients on the CHA website: http://www.challiance.org/CHANewsRoom/News/Somerville_Health_Foundation_Announces_Recipients_851.aspx.