Whether supporting teen parents with very small children in Crowley County or providing nursing home patient care in Baca County, the work done by the grantees of the Caring for Colorado Foundation touches every age and stage of human life. Through 2007 and the early part of 2008, the Foundation provided approximately a quarter of a million dollars in grants to a variety of health organizations in Southeastern Colorado. Though the organizations differ dramatically in whom they serve and how they approach their work, it is their commonalities that are worth a closer look.  

Successful grantees often have missions and values that overlap that of the Foundation, including quality heath services for the people of Colorado that are accessible, affordable, available, culturally appropriate, acknowledge and respect diversity and address barriers to maximizing health, especially among underserved populations. One example is a project of Bent County Family Medical that will screen all Hispanic patients and more than 350 elementary school-age children in Las Animas and McClave school districts for diabetes. The school nurse reports that fifty percent of the children are considered overweight or obese, and this screening program will help identify those with diabetes or those at risk of developing the disease. They'll get one-to-one counseling with a nurse and nutritionist, targeting behavior changes and diabetes prevention through a nine -session, family-based program that follows the guidelines of the American Diabetes Association for disease prevention and management. Organizations often have in their goals to address the health continuum from prevention and health promotion, to direct care, to impacting the root causes of health problems, and they often encourage people to share responsibility for maximizing their own health. "We find that when grantees are serving their own missions, they are often meeting the same core values and mission that we set forth for our own organization," said Susan Hill, MSPH, Caring for Colorado Foundation Vice President of Programs.

In Otero County, the Foundation has funded the Tri- County Family Care Center to support the newborn visitation and parents as teachers home visitation program. The project provides parent education and support, child safety education, basic health education, developmental screenings and hearing and vision screenings. This program partners with the Otero and Crowley County Health Department and Bent County Nursing Service to link families to community resources, including medical and dental care and social services and supports. Caring for Colorado also looks for measurable outcomes, where the grantee is holding itself accountable for evaluating its program, is striving for improved health indicators, is open to improvement of its own program based on feedback and evaluation and is working to promote long-term systemic change in the health system. Sometimes that means building greater capacity than the existing health facilities can hold. Bent County HealthCare Center was originally a small, rural hospital when it was built in 1962. Now the Center includes an in-house childcare center, an assisted living complex, and provides occupational, physical, and speech therapy services. The Center was looking to improve overall patient care management and was awarded a grant early this year to upgrade equipment and pay for staff training as they convert to an electronic medical record system. Other grants in Southeastern Colorado have included the High Plains Community Health Center in Prowers County for oral health services for low income adults; the Lamar Area Hospice Association serving Bent, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Prowers counties; and the Walsh Healthcare Center in Baca County to support the purchase of patient care equipment for nursing home residents.

"What we know is that without the very hard, front line work of our grantees, the work of the Foundation would not be possible. This is a partnership that each of us needs to continue to work on behalf of the underserved in our state," says Hill.