Jewish Healthcare Foundation approves grants to support teen mental health
And boost WIC
Jewish Healthcare Foundation approves grants to support teen mental health and to boost WIC
The Jewish Healthcare Foundation recently approved a two year $70,000 grant to help fund a teen engagement coordinator at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill to engage and support teens for 24 hours per week.
The JHF began focusing on adolescent behavioral health in 2016 in response to increasing reports that teens in crisis were unable to find timely treatment. The initiative expanded in December 2018 when JHF approved a grant to improve adolescent behavioral health services in Squirrel Hill following the shooting in the Tree of Life building.
JHF also approved a one-year $20,000 grant to help create a pilot school-based mental health initiative at Baldwin-Whitehall High School. Implemented in partnership with Allegheny Health Network and Jefferson Regional Foundation, The CHILL Project is a year-long comprehensive curriculum designed to transform school culture through skill learning, implementation and internalization for all individuals in the school community network. The project will include a mindfulness room for students, faculty and parents to actively engage in mindfulness-based learning opportunities and practice these skills.
To address declining enrollment by Pennsylvanians in WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) — which could threaten federal funding — JHF approved a one-year $25,000 grant which will help fund a statewide best practices summit. JHF, in partnership with other funders from the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative and the state Department of Health, will organize the gathering in Harrisburg this fall. The summit will bring together statewide WIC leaders and stakeholders to learn from innovative best-practice models across the country and spark action toward regional implementation. pjc
—Toby Tabachnick
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