51 Non-profit Organizations Receive Nearly $500,000 in Grants from Kaiser Permanente LAMC

Grant Program Targets Barriers Faced by Underserved Populations

LOS ANGELES, Calif., July 17, 2017 — Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center (LAMC) announced that it will award grants totaling nearly $500,000 to non-profit organizations that serve individuals living in LAMC’s geographic service area, including Boyle Heights, Burbank, Echo Park, Glendale, Metro Los Angeles, and Pasadena. After a competitive application process, 51 organizations were selected to receive grants ranging from $5,000 - $24,000 each, to help fund programs that provide health care access to the uninsured or working poor, health services for pregnant and parenting teens in foster care, mental health care for homeless and trafficked youth, and more.

LAMC’s grant funding is informed by Kaiser Permanente’s Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). Grants are awarded to organizations in one of four community health need categories: Access to Health Care, Behavioral Health, HIV/AIDS and STI prevention, and Obesity prevention.

The need for services to support the homeless is especially high in LAMC’s surrounding communities. According to the 2017 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, the largest number of homeless individuals are located in L.A. County Service Planning Area 4, which lies within LAMC’s service area.

Communities like Hollywood have experienced a significant impact because they lack the infrastructure that exists in other areas to provide support services to homeless individuals.

“The Center at Blessed Sacrament is deeply committed to ending chronic homelessness and isolation in Hollywood,” says Nathan Sheets, executive director, The Center at Blessed Sacrament in Hollywood. “We are very excited to receive this grant, which will allow us to work in collaboration with the Los Angeles Police Department as part of the solution to end homelessness, and to connect our neighbors who are most in need to resources such as housing and a medical home.”

Programs supported by Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit help families receive primary care, dental and mental health care, teach people how to manage chronic diseases, promote preventive care, provide healthy eating and active living education, and support basic needs such as employment training, food security, housing and transportation.

Through its grant program, Kaiser Permanente is committed to eliminating the many barriers that prevent community residents from achieving good health.

“Improving the health of the communities we serve has always been a central part of our social mission,” says Mario Ceballos, community benefit health manager, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. “We are pleased to invest in resources that increase access to health care and critical services for our underserved populations. By working together with like-minded partners, we can have a lasting impact in promoting healthy, thriving communities.”

The 2017 LAMC grantees are:

For information about Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, please visit www.kp.org/losangeles. To learn more about Kaiser Permanente Southern California Community Benefit, visit www.community.kp.org.