MemorialCare Awards Nearly $200K in Grants to Support Community Health Efforts

Seventeen local nonprofits serving their community will receive funding to address guidance programs for children and teens, health access, food insecurity and/or housing in honor of the late Dr. King's birthday and Week of Service.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Jan. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MemorialCare, a prominent nonprofit Southern California integrated health system, has announced the recipients of its Community Benefit Grants Program for Fiscal Year 2024. MemorialCare has granted just under $200,000 to major nonprofits such as Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, My Sister My Friend Breast Cancer Support, Meals on Wheels Orange County, and Casa Youth Shelter. The financial support benefits local nonprofit public health and human service organizations dedicated to serving vulnerable communities including guidance programs for children and teens, health access, food insecurity and/or housing.

"At a time of economic uncertainty, coupled with the ever-changing health care landscape, it's important now more than ever that MemorialCare support our communities locally, understanding and addressing the social determinants of health," says Barry Arbuckle, Ph.D., president and CEO, MemorialCare. "Supporting organizations that are closest to our vulnerable communities that may likely become patients, helps them provide health education around preventative care, such as routine screenings like mammographs and the importance of flu shots – all of which can help change and even save a life."

MemorialCare's four hospitals Long Beach Medical Center, Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach, Orange Coast Medical Center, and Saddleback Medical Center initiated an annual call for applications through their community benefits grant program. Each not-for-profit or community-based organization went through a rigorous evaluation and review process. The recipient applications focused around addressing key health priorities identified by each hospital's tri-annual Community Health Needs Assessment.  The applications were reviewed and voted on by each hospital's Community Benefit Oversight Committee.

Seventeen nonprofits were selected to receive MemorialCare community benefit grants including: Century Villages at Cabrillo, My Sister My Friend Breast Cancer Support, Lutheran Social Services of Southern California, The LBGTQ Center Long Beach, Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, BreastfeedLA, Long Beach Bar Foundation, The Guidance Center, Tichenor Clinic for Children, Casa Teresa, Hope Harbor, Meals on Wheels Orange County, Orange County Rescue Mission, Camino Health Center, Casa Youth Shelter, The Foundation of Laguna Woods, and Western Youth Services.

About MemorialCare

MemorialCare is a not-for-profit, integrated health care system with 225 care locations including leading hospitals—Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Long Beach Medical Center and Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach; MemorialCare Medical Group and Greater Newport Physicians; MemorialCare Research Program; MemorialCare Select Health Plan; and numerous outpatient health, imaging, surgery, urgent care, physical therapy, breast health and dialysis centers throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties. Accolades include Nation's Best Health Systems and Workplaces, Top 50 U.S. Hospitals and Cardiovascular Hospitals, 10 Largest Children's Hospitals, 100 Best Hospitals - Spine and Prostate Surgeries, Best of Orange County and Long Beach Hospitals and Medical Groups, U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals and "high performing" in 31 clinical categories and Newsweek World's Best Hospitals, Top 100 Hospitals, Best Maternity Hospitals – and more. Visit memorialcare.org.

SOURCE MemorialCare