Columbia, Md. ― As a core part of its mission improve health and wellness for people who live or work in Howard County, Md., the Horizon Foundation awarded nearly $1 million in grants in 2016. The grants support programs that address community needs and advance the Foundation’s strategic priorities to increase access to quality, affordable health care and to promote healthy lifestyles.
“We are proud to have grantee partners that care deeply about improving health and share our vision for all people in Howard County to live long, healthy lives,” said Horizon Foundation President and CEO Nikki Highsmith Vernick. “These organizations and agencies are taking innovative, research-based approaches to make a lasting positive impact on the community.”
Since 1998, Horizon has invested $45 million in community programs, including grants to more than 250 diverse organizations serving the county, from school-based programs to faith-based organizations to health care providers.
As part of its grantmaking this year, the Horizon Foundation awarded eight new Strategic Health Initiative Grants:
Community Action Council of Howard County: $45,000 to support the Healthy Families, Healthy Children program, which helps 3- and 4-year-old children at all Howard County Head Start centers and their families develop healthy habits and better manage chronic diseases through the EatPlayGrow curriculum.
Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland: $100,000 over two years to expand comprehensive behavioral health care by becoming licensed as an outpatient mental health clinic, adding child psychiatry and expanding capacity.
Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center: $28,500 to expand mental health education by offering three types of trainings that will help individuals learn how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders.
Howard County Department of Fire & Rescue Services: $10,000 to assess the feasibility of a mobile integrated health program that will help reduce operational strain on emergency care resources and improve care for patients with complex medical conditions.
Howard County Government: $250,000 to pilot a bikeshare program in Columbia with the goal of increasing transportation options that increase daily physical exercise. The program will include seven bikeshare stations with 70 bicycles serving the Columbia Lakefront, The Mall in Columbia, the Crescent development, Howard County General Hospital, Howard Community College, Oakland Mills Village Center and Blandair Park.
Howard County Health Department: $149,453 to enhance health care access for youth by expanding school-based behavioral health and tele-psychiatry consultation, provided in partnership with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Humanim: $60,000 to study the feasibility of increasing access to behavioral health services in the county by expanding the number of providers accepting patients covered by Medicaid.
Way Station Inc.: $95,000 to provide residential crisis beds for individuals, regardless of income, where they can receive intensive mental health support services from licensed professionals in a therapeutic setting.
Additional programs supported through grants in 2016 include the Ellicott City Historic Partnership, Howard County General Hospital, Bright Minds Foundation and Association of Community Services. For a full list of current grantees, please visit http://bit.ly/HFgrantawards. For more information the Horizon Foundation’s grantmaking.
