Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Announces $7.25 Million to Address Community Health Needs

11 Local Organizations Awarded Three-Year Grants to Address Behavioral Health, Housing Affordability, Jobs and Financial Security

BOSTON – Today, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) announced it will award $7.25 million to support 10 local organizations and one City of Boston agency to address health needs in the communities the hospital serves.

The grants awarded will address housing affordability, jobs and financial security, and behavioral health needs.

“Our partners through the Community-based Health Initiative do tremendous and impactful work every day to address health and social needs,” said Pete Healy, President of BIDMC and Divisional President, Metro Boston, Beth Israel Lahey Health. “We are proud to support their ongoing work with our latest round of grants.”

This funding represents the final major investment out of a total of approximately $30 million dollars that have been allocated as part of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Determination of Need process for BIDMC's Klarman Building. Out of this total, BIDMC has directly awarded $18.4 million in grants to the community and contributed $7.5 million to DPH’s Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds.

Funded projects include:

Housing Affordability

• Boston’s Higher Ground will build the capacity of the Family-Led Stability Initiative, which links education and affordable housing to reduce family homelessness and improve health and educational outcomes for Boston Public School families.
• Boston Housing Authority (BHA) will be able to strengthen the First Home Program by increasing down payment assistance and homeownership education for BHA residents and expanding the number of lenders who understand the process of working with subsidized low- and moderate-income applicants.
• HomeStart will grow the Eviction Prevention Program in Eastern Housing Court to be able to serve those households (<30% of Area Median Income) who are most likely to experience homelessness by way of nonpayment eviction.
• International Institute of New England will launch Families First, an initiative to expand immigrant access to emergency shelter, avoid homelessness and access legal support to avoid eviction.

Jobs and Financial Security

• Building Pathways will expand and enhance the Pre-Apprenticeship Program, which provides a pathway for low-income Boston residents to enter careers in the construction trades while creating a pipeline of new talent to replace an aging workforce and meet labor demands for the construction market.
• Casa Myrna will expand the Savings and Employment Incentive Program (SEIP) to serve additional youth and adult survivors of domestic violence; SEIP matches participants' debt reduction payments, facilitates debt relief negotiations, offers financial coaching/planning and provides matched savings for rent increases.
• Tech Goes Home will offer more residents a comprehensive digital inclusion program – including 15 hours of community-based training, a new computer, and, if needed, a year of internet access – to expand economic opportunities.
• YMCA of Greater Boston will expand the Early Childhood Education Apprenticeship program, which provides paid on-the-job training that allows enrollees to become certified and subsequently placed in early education teaching positions.

Behavioral Heath

• Children’s Services of Roxbury will expand the Front Porch program that provides free access to multilingual and multicultural mental health services by pairing parents and caregivers with trained parent peers with lived experience to help them navigate systems, develop self-advocacy skills and access resources to achieve personal and family goals.
• Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center will elevate the Healthy Ideas program that increases mental health awareness and reduces stigma, provides individual counseling sessions for Chinese-speaking adults, and facilitates support groups to foster ongoing peer assistance and mental wellness.
• Simmons University will utilize a train-the-trainer model, through which students at Fenway High School will learn about evidence-based strategies, including mindfulness, yoga, and health and wellness behaviors that they can utilize to prevent and manage behavioral health problems.