Community HealthCorps Renewed at Record Levels!

NACHC heard on Friday May 28, 2010 that the Community HealthCorps’ request for $6.097 million dollars and 469 members was fully funded! This is the first time in the program’s history that NACHC received 100% of what was requested in its initial proposal.

This is nearly a half million dollar growth for the program in a year when applicants outnumbered awardees 2:1. This will combine NACHC’s four funded state programs and its national program under one fixed cost grant, will help to simplify programmatic and fiscal reporting, and grow the program to six new locations.

Coupled with NACHC’s AmeriCorps VISTA program in New York that was renewed earlier this year, Community HealthCorps deploys nearly 500 AmeriCorps members throughout the country. These individuals deliver necessary support services to health center patients, link them to health insurance and prescription assistance, educate them on childhood obesity prevention and smoking cessation, and help to develop new programs and grants for growing health centers. Additionally, this means over 839,000 hours of service will be provided to health centers from AmeriCorps members in the Community HealthCorps next year and will yield up to $2.6 million dollars in educational scholarships to the AmeriCorps members-many who use it towards future education and become future health center leaders.

Special thanks to all of the HealthCorps staff who worked tirelessly to pull this grant together, showing that commitment to an idea and teamwork pay off! Staff read nearly 600 pages of program applications, dissected up to 150 reviews from peer-reviewers, and extrapolated key demographic and programmatic data from the near 50 proposal to produce a strong and now funded program application.

Thank you to NACHC’s CEO Tom Van Coverden and the NACHC Board for continued support of the program from its early beginnings as a program of 90 members to its size today. Also thanks to NACHC’s CFO Mary Hawbecker and NACHC’s COO Dave Taylor for hours of discussion and support to help guide the program towards smart and realistic growth.

Finally, thanks to all of the local programs who operate successfully everyday and guide the AmeriCorps members each year to be advocates for care through health centers and become the leaders of tomorrow for the health center movement.