BUFFALO, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, is awarding $1 million in Empowering Health grants to seven community-based organizations in New York to expand access to care and address the social determinants of health for uninsured individuals and underserved communities.
In total, UnitedHealthcare is donating $11.4 million through Empowering Health grants across 18 states and the District of Columbia. The grants will assist individuals and families experiencing challenges from food insecurity, social isolation and behavioral health issues, and support local health promotion and health literacy efforts.
Grant recipients in New York include:
- Sisters Hospital Foundation – $400,000 to implement the Food FARMacy, a collaboration between Catholic Health, D’Youville College and FeedMore WNY, to provide food insecurity screening for individuals at risk for chronic disease and refer them to a dietician for nutrition education, ongoing health assessments and food for their household.
- Catholic Charities of Onondaga County – $174,000 to assist navigators for refugee families with support to conduct health and mental health screenings, make referrals, manage cases, accompany clients to appointments, encourage medication compliance and more.
- West Side Community Services – $170,000 to support the West Side Seniors program through virtual and on-the-go health and social programming that reaches seniors in their communities.
- Food Bank of Central New York – $150,000 to deliver healthy food boxes to seniors in the Syracuse area.
- Veterans One-stop Center of WNY – $60,000 to grow the Veteran Peer Support Program within Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee and Niagara counties and to expand into Erie County, supporting group events and individual one-on-one peer mentoring sessions.
- Food Bank For New York City – $36,000 to sponsor summer food distributions in the Bronx neighborhood of Morris Heights.
- Family of Woodstock – $10,000 to purchase a second van, in partnership with UlsterCorps, for the Farm to Food Pantry collaboration, which addresses food insecurity by engaging local farmers to donate locally grown produce and training volunteers to support the process.
“Social and economic factors have a profound impact on achieving and maintaining good health,” said Michael McGuire, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of New York. “Through Empowering Health grants, we’re working with local organizations to provide Empire Staters with greater access to essential resources in high-risk and high-need communities so they can live healthier lives.”
Good health encompasses more than simply visiting a doctor’s office. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, nearly 80% of what influences a person’s health relates to nonmedical issues such as food, housing, transportation and the financial means to pay for basic daily needs. And for so many, the global pandemic has caused additional social and economic challenges that continue to affect healthy behaviors and exacerbate health disparities.
Since launching its Empowering Health commitment in 2018, UnitedHealthcare has now invested more than $40 million in Empowering Health grants reaching more than 6 million people through partnerships with community-based organizations in 29 states.
UnitedHealth Group, including UnitedHealthcare and Optum, and its affiliated companies, is committed to reducing health disparities and building healthier communities by supporting programs to improve access to care and address key determinants of health. In New York, this includes more than $11.2 million in contributions from 2018-2020 representing its businesses, foundations and employees.
Additionally, UnitedHealth Group has invested more than $500 million in affordable housing communities since 2011, partnered with food banks and meal-delivery services, and in 2019 joined with the American Medical Association to standardize how social determinants of health data is collected and used to create more holistic care plans.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and making the health system work better for everyone by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. In the United States, UnitedHealthcare offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1.3 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,500 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. The company also provides health benefits and delivers care to people through owned and operated health care facilities in South America. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified health care company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @UHC on Twitter.
