Natick Organization Wins Three-Year Community Health Grant

NATICK, MA – As part of its longstanding commitment to the community, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham on Monday announced that it awarded $76,000 in grant funding to 10 area community-based organizations, including a three-year grant to Family Promise Metrowest in Natick.

The grants are part of BID Needham’s community benefits program and are intended to support programs that address community health priorities and meaningfully impact populations and community members within the BID Needham service area that face the greatest health inequities. Criteria included three focus areas that were identified during the hospital’s most recent Community Health Needs Assessment, completed in July 2019 - Behavioral Health, Chronic and Complex Conditions, and Access to Care and Social Determinants of Health.

Family Promise Metrowest will receive a multi-year grant in the amount of $6,000 per year, valued at $18,000 over three years. The group is a community response to family homelessness with individual programs addressing the comprehensive needs of homeless families with at least one child under the age of 18. It is one of over 200 affiliates of Family Promise National located in 43 states across the country.

Grant funding will support its LIFE program (Local Initiative for Family Empowerment), a homelessness prevention and diversion program that supports families who are at risk of eviction or have lost their housing but, with targeted support, can move back into an apartment immediately and avoid shelter entry.

“BID Needham is truly a community hospital, and we realize that the organizations we support through our Community Benefits program are at the heart of our community,” said John Fogarty, President of BID Needham. “We are proud to support these organizations and the important work they are doing to reduce health disparities and inequities for those in our community. We are glad to put resources behind this work to support our shared goal to have a greater impact in the communities we serve.”

BID Needham is a licensed 58-bed acute care community hospital. It has served residents in Needham and surrounding communities for more than 100 years. The hospital has been recognized by several organizations for quality and safety, including five-out-of-five stars from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an “A” grade from the Leapfrog Group, the Gold Seal of Approval® from The Joint Commission and the 2019 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award. For more information about Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Needham, please visit this link.

BID Needham is a part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, a health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,800 physicians and 36,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education. For more information about Beth Israel Lahey Health, please visit www.bilh.org.