FROM OUR CEO
What an amazing first year!
As many of you know, this was my first year as CEO of the Health Foundation—and what a year it's been! As our region and the world continued to grapple with the pandemic, we at the Health Foundation understood that never had our work to address health inequities been more urgent. The deep connection between a person's health and their economic stability has, thanks in no small way to COVID-19, fully emerged as an undeniable issue that compelled leaders and influencers to take action.
It certainly makes doing what we do a lot more impactful. Indeed, this year the Foundation invested nearly $4 million in local efforts and initiatives that directly address issues of equitable access to health and healthcare, which reside at the heart of our core focus areas:
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Increasing access to routine and preventive medical care for children and adults in uninsured and underserved communities.
It would have been impossible to tackle any of these already towering challenges this past year without also focusing on COVID-19 and the disparities it unleashed in our communities. Which is why much of our work also supported grassroots organizations helping people access testing, vaccines and reliable information about how to stay healthy.
As proud as I am of all that our Foundation staff and partners have accomplished (scroll down to read about some of our most recent announcements), I remain humbled by the amount of work that's still ahead. Our staff, leadership, Board of Directors and I are standing ready, sleeves rolled up, energized for 2022.
In the meantime, I hope you and your loved ones enjoy a peaceful and healthy holiday season.
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New Partners
HEALTH FOUNDATION SELECTED BY CITI AS 2021 COMMUNITY PROGRESS MAKER
The Health Foundation of South Florida was selected by Citi Foundation as a recipient of the 2021 Community Progress Makers initiative, which supports visionary organizations across the U.S. that are working to connect low-income communities and communities of color to greater social and economic opportunity. As a Community Progress Maker, the Health Foundation will receive a multi-year, unrestricted grant of $500,000 and access to technical assistance and a supportive learning community from 2022 to 2023.
The newest cohort of Community Progress Makers includes 50 leading nonprofit organizations—including seven others from South Florida—selected through a competitive request for proposals process, with a strong track record of supporting underserved communities across six U.S. cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C. The Citi Foundation will provide a supportive learning community through which grantees can connect to share best practices and strengthen their work as social change agents. Technical assistance will also be provided by the Urban Institute to help measure the cohort’s impact and progress.
The grant will support the work of the South Florida Anchor Alliance, for which the Health Foundation acts as a backbone organization. The Alliance is a collaborative of more than 20 regional institutions—hospitals and healthcare systems, education enterprises and municipalities—that have joined forces to leverage their combined multi-billion-dollar spending power to hire and invest in more local employees and small businesses.
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Team Update
NEW STAFF, NEW ROLES
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We're excited to announce the Foundation staff is growing and existing roles are being elevated—all to better equip ourselves to pursue our ambitious goals. Please join us is in welcoming two new members to our Executive Management Team and learn more about the newly-designed position for one of our most valuable, long-time leaders.
Alecia Dillon is the Foundation's new Chief Financial Officer, responsible for all financial functions including accounting, audit, treasury, financial reporting, tax, and investor relations. Before joining the Foundation, she served as the CFO for Northern Arizona University’s Foundation, where she oversaw a $350 million-dollar endowment and $12 million-dollar annual operating budget. Alecia holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor from Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Janisse Rosario Schoepp, who has been with the Foundation since 2004, is assuming a new leadership position as Vice President of Strategy. In this role, she will guide the development and implementation of new approaches and initiatives that advance the Foundation's health equity agenda. She will also serve as a thought leader internally and externally, informing the Foundation’s overall direction, strategic partnerships and investments in the community. She holds a Master’s and a Doctorate of Public Health, both from Florida International University.
Mark Dissette has been appointed Chief Impact Officer, a newly-created position. He will lead the Foundation's efforts to cultivate and foster innovative systems-level and community-driven solutions aimed at reducing health disparities and creating health equity in low-income and minority communities across South Florida. He joined after 36 years at Holy Cross Hospital in Broward County, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President and Administrator. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Miami, and a Bachelor of Health Services from Florida Atlantic University.
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We invested $1.3 million to increase access to healthcare insurance across South Florida
The Health Foundation invested $1.3 million in four Miami-Dade and Broward community-led and grassroots organizations working to help increase the number of South Floridians who sign up for health insurance on the federal insurance marketplace, Medicaid and/or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The grant recipients—Catalyst Miami, Broward Regional Health Planning Council, Hispanic Unity of Florida and Health Council of South Florida—are working on multi-year outreach and engagement initiatives and will also participate in a "learning community" that allows them to share insights and best practices with one another.
The opportunity was open to organizations that demonstrated prior experience engaging hard-to-reach populations, conducting targeted community outreach and high-touch programs assisting individuals, as well as a reputation in their communities as a resource—even if not focused exclusively on health.
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We also completed our $1.5 million commitment to addressing COVID-19 impacts and disparities
At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the Health Foundation announced a commitment to invest $1.5 million in funding to address COVID-19 racial and ethnic disparities by increasing outreach and education, and reducing transmission in some of the region’s most vulnerable communities.
In 2021, that commitment continued. We added support for nonprofit organizations helping people in our target communities better understand and access the COVID-19 vaccines.
From the beginning, our investment was part of a coordinated, data-driven, targeted plan focused on existing and anticipated Miami-Dade and Broward “hot spots,” where residents were at higher risk for infections and severe outcomes because of social and economic conditions.
We are grateful to all of our grantees, and especially the 2021 recipients, who were at the frontline of a tireless effort to ensure everyone had equitable access to the life-saving vaccine. They include:
Centro Campesino
Healthy Little Havana
Hispanic Unity of Florida
James Wilson Bridges, MD Medical Society
Live Healthy Miami Gardens
Mount Olive Development Corporation
Opa-Locka Community Development Corporation
Urban Health Partnerships
Urban League of Broward County
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Spread the word
WE'RE HIRING!
Want to stand at the forefront of health equity issues in South Florida? Are you passionate about making good health and access to healthcare a reality for everyone in our community? Here's a chance to join our team: we're currently searching for a Program Officer and a Data & Grants Management Analyst.
Deadline to apply for both positions is January 7, 2022.
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The Health Foundation of South Florida is a change agent, improving the well-being for all residents of South Florida, especially those most in need, through funding, expertise and advocacy. |
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Health Foundation of South Florida | hfsf.org
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