Flexibility Helps Amplify Fund Impact
Franciscan Health Foundation’s Community Health and Wellness Fund is used in creative ways to have the greatest impact in our communities.
In Chicago’s South Suburbs last year, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, community fund monies enabled COVID response kits for school-age children with an emphasis on preparing kids for the challenges of e-learning and doing their schoolwork at home.
This year, in anticipation of a more normal return to school, leaders at School District 163 for Chicago Heights, Ford Heights and Park Forest in Illinois, used CHW funds to purchase an assortment of school supplies for children’s backpacks.
Acknowledging COVID’s continued presence, the district also used Foundation dollars for on-site vaccines and physician exams for 350 children.
At another location, kids received hygiene kits including soap, shampoo and conditioner (specific to boys or girls). Finally, the Harold Jones Community Center in Chicago Heights used its funds for hygiene kits for its late-summer camp participants.
“Gifts made through Franciscan’s Employee Giving Campaign and from private donors allow leaders in our communities to creatively address issues specific to their region,” says Danielle Crowder, manager, Community Health Improvement. “That flexibility really matters when we are in an unpredictable period like the one, we’re experiencing due to COVID.”