Brockton Neighborhood Health Center To Open
Through innovative partnership, health center will provide health care services alongside nutritional education at adjacent Vicente's Market
BROCKTON, Mass., Aug. 31, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new Brockton Neighborhood Health Center will open with a press conference, site tour, and nutrition counseling demonstration on Thursday, September 3 from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM at 160 Pleasant Street in Brockton, MA. The event culminates a $22 million investment to bring the new community health center and the adjacent Vicente's Tropical Supermarket to Brockton, a nationally significant collaboration utilizing innovative financing to help low-income residents improve their health.
For the Brockton community, with nearly one in four residents living in poverty, diabetes and obesity rates higher than the state average, and limited medical services, the health center and market will help meet a deep need. In a pioneering partnership, the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center and Vicente's, both trusted community institutions, together transformed an abandoned commercial site at the corner of Pleasant and Warren Streets into a full-service grocery store and a federally qualified health center.
This new site, a satellite of an established nearby health center, is expected to serve about 6,700 patients each year, with a particular focus on low-income residents. By providing aligned health care services and support for healthy eating habits in one location, the center and market will make it that much easier for residents to access these critical services, improve their health, and start to transform their quality of life.
WHAT: Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, Vicente's Market, LISC, and other partners will launch a new neighborhood health clinic with a press conference, a tour of the clinic and adjacent market showcasing how the health center teaches clients to use healthier foods.
WHERE: 160 Pleasant Street at Warren Street, Brockton, MA
WHEN: Thursday, September 3: 11:00 AM press conference, 12:00-12:30 PM site tour, cooking demonstration and tasting.
WHO: Notable guests include: Senator Elizabeth Warren; Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter; Matthew Josephs, senior vice president for policy, LISC; Sue Joss, CEO, Brockton Neighborhood Health Center; Jason Barbosa, owner and operator, Vicente's Tropical Supermarket; and Audrey Choi, managing director and head of global sustainable finance, Morgan Stanley.
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the country's largest community development organization, provided $8 million for the new health center through the Healthy Futures Fund—a national vehicle to finance better health services in low-income communities. LISC did so with capital from Morgan Stanley, The Kresge Foundation, and Opportunity Finance Network/Leviticus Fund. LISC also invested $3.6 million towards the $14.1 million invested to open Vicente's in June 2015.
To date, LISC has invested in 55 community health centers and 64 grocery stores across the country—all helping meet the needs of disadvantaged residents and raise standards of living in distressed areas.
About the Local Initiatives Support Corporation
LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help nonprofit community development corporations revitalize distressed neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has invested $12.9 billion to build or rehab 298,300 affordable homes and apartments and develop 49 million square feet of retail, community and educational space. For more information, visit www.lisc.org.
CONTACT: Terence Burke
617-901-1697
SOURCE LISC
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