Common Ground Health Clinic Updates

Media Release
Contact:
Greg E. Griffith
Legal Liaison
Common Ground Health Clinic
Phone: 504/913-2892
E-Mail: imjustgreg [at] gmail [dot] com%00">imjustgreg [at] gmail [dot] com
January 06, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RECOVERY GRANTS AWARDED TO HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS SERVING HURRICANE-AFFECTED COMMUNITIES

The Baxter International Foundation Health Recovery Fund awards grants totaling $833,813 to support organizations working to improve the health of Mid Southerners

NEW ORLEANS, LA (January 6, 2007) – The Common Ground Health Clinic (CGHC) Is proud to announce its reception of a grant intended for the formation of the Community Health and Strength Project (CGHC-CH&SP) totaling $200,000 from the Foundation for The Mid-South (FMS) on behalf of The Baxter International Foundation Health Recovery Fund. The fund was established in February of 2006 to support the recovery and restoration efforts of community-based health care clinics, nonprofits, and other community-based health services in the Mid South after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The guidelines for this round of grants were developed by the Mid South Health Advisory Committee based on feedback from over 150 health care professionals during a regional conference on improving health disparities in the region —including a focus on health inequities caused by socio-economic conditions.
The organizations receiving funding are:
- Catholic Charities Trauma Recovery for Youth serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Central Mississippi, and the Delta ($75,000)
- Boat People SOS, Inc. serving Biloxi, Mississippi, and the New Orleans, Louisiana, area ($192,480)
- Common Ground Health Clinic serving the New Orleans, Louisiana, area ($200,000)
- University of Arkansas for Medical Science—Area Health Education Center serving Sevier County, Arkansas ($189,583)
- YWCA of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana, serving 11 parishes including the city of Baton Rouge ($176,750).

About The Community Health And Strength Project
Common Ground Health Clinic – a neighborhood-based primary care clinic, committed to anti-racist work – proposes a Community Health and Strength Project in which explicit anti-racism education and initiatives would combine with health education, community projects and direct health care delivery to address underlying health problems in an area of entrenched poverty suffering from the collapse of the charity health care system after Hurricane Katrina. The intention of this project is to expand capacity for existing programs and grow new approaches for improving general health (with a specific focus on hypertension and diabetes) through 1) direct health education; 2) training community health educators; 3) developing healthier lifestyles/meals through culturally and community-accepted mechanism; 4) training to make racist structures visible and supporting working groups to focus on specific problems; and 5) providing community mediation and training community mediators to sustain a neighborhood justice program.

About The Baxter International Foundation

The Baxter International Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter International Inc., helps organizations increase access to healthcare in the United States and around the world. The Foundation, established in 1981, began to focus exclusively on increasing access to healthcare in 2002—particularly for the disadvantaged and underserved—in and near communities where Baxter employees live and work.
Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, assists healthcare professionals and their patients with the treatment of complex medical conditions, including hemophilia, immune disorders, cancer, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other conditions. The company applies its expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to make a meaningful difference in patients' lives. For more information, please visit www.baxter.com.
About the Foundation for the Mid South
The Foundation for the Mid South is a nonprofit organization that invests in people and strategies that build philanthropy and promote racial, social, and economic equity in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Foundation has both acquired and leveraged millions of dollars from inside the Mid South and nationally to support and expand nonprofits and leadership in the region.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care
Issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to
Improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful, and timely change. For more than 30 years, the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
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