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Delta Health Alliance Receives Two New Grants
Source: Delta Health Alliance,
December 2009
Stoneville, MS- The Delta Health
Alliance recently received two federal grants to expand its programs in
the
Mississippi Delta. One grant was awarded
by the U.S. Department of Human Services for $313,329.
The other grant was awarded by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture for $186,200.
Both grants will be used for the Delta Health
Alliance to bring mental
health services to medically underserved areas in the Delta.
Partners with the Delta Health Alliance
in these grant programs include community mental health centers in
Greenwood
and Clarksdale,
their satellite sites in Charleston,
Indianola, and Belzoni, the Mississippi State
Hospital
in Whitfield, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Both grants allow the Delta Health Alliance
to expand the mental health services it is providing to patients in the
Delta. According to Dr. Karen Fox,
president and CEO, “Because the Delta is so short on medical
specialists and
because few residents can travel to Jackson or Memphis to receive care,
we are
bringing those doctors to the Delta, via computer and interactive video
connections.” The program began one year
ago and allows a patient to come to a community health center in
Greenwood or Clarksdale,
and talk
“live” with a psychiatrist. But the
doctor is in Jackson and the conversation takes place over secure video
and
audio high-speed connections. “These new
grants,” according to Fox, “will allow us to include more communities
in this
network and make more physicians a part of the network.”
The entire Delta region has a shortage
of mental health professionals, thus, by providing a tool that expands
access
to these services and distance learning opportunities, this Delta
Health Alliance
initiative will
enable mental health patients to receive access to quality care that
will allow
them to live happier, more productive lives.
“We have been very fortunate to have had
the support of the Delta Health Alliance during the past year to
initiate
mental health services in these community mental health centers and to
provide
training to their staff”, says Dr. Grayson Norquist, a psychiatrist at
the
University Medical Center who is helping to manage the program. “With this new funding we can expand our
services and improve the continuity of care between the inpatient
services at
the State Hospital and the outpatient services provided at the Delta
centers.”
The Delta Health Alliance is a nonprofit
organization that supports community-based healthcare initiatives that
target
critical health and wellness issues in the Mississippi Delta. Located in Stoneville, MS, the Delta Health
Alliance currently funds 35 community-based programs that are spread
throughout
the Delta region.
The Delta Health Alliance (DHA) will be embarking upon a new
collaborative effort within the next year. In the spring of 2009, the DHA, along with numerous potential
future partners and agencies from the region, had the opportunity to
travel to Harlem, New York,
to observe the exciting results of a community-based initiative called
the Harlem Children’s Zone. The Harlem Children’s Zone is an innovative
approach that offers a wide range of coordinated services with intense
coverage in one community, ranging from programs offering healthcare,
literacy, early childhood development and social services. The Harlem
Children’s Zone and other intensive community-based programs have
proven to be extremely successful in reversing national trends for at
risk minorities and making significant, sustainable changes in the
lives of its residents through coordination of services and
follow-through with individuals over time.
The DHA will replicate this
comprehensive, community based program in the Mississippi Delta town of
Indianola through The Delta Promise Community Project. The purpose of
this project is to improve healthcare, early childhood development,
literacy, and social
services by incorporating the following service projects:
• Early childhood development
• Charter schools and
redesigned curriculums
• Adult literacy and
job training
• Development of
community centers for after school, weekends and summers
• Access to primary
care and dental services
• Access to prenatal
care and family planning services
• College assistance
programs
The
Delta Health Alliance has assembled a diverse and experienced staff to
assist in the development, implementation and operations associated with these
efforts. The DHA is currently supporting several community-based
initiatives built upon these ideals, including:
•
MIHOW: The Mothers and Infants Health Outreach
Worker program to link young parents with vital early childhood
services and health education in the Delta.
• Imagination Library: Early childhood
reading programs partnering students from area schools with local
families to read to young
children and deliver books every few weeks, to encourage more family
reading time.
• Delta Promise Schools: An early
childhood school readiness summer program that helps prepare children
from impoverished or
rural neighborhoods develop basic language skills needed to
dramatically increase their chance of success in
kindergarten, laying a foundation for future academic success.
After visiting the Harlem Children's Zone with its array of exciting
community-based initiatives, which have proven extremely effective in
turning around the lives of families with young children - improving
the future outlook for individuals and communities as a whole, the
Delta Health Alliance is excited at the prospect of replicating this
proven model for the benefit of Mississippi Delta communities. Programs
such as The Delta Promise Community Project will promote literacy and
early childhood development, initiatives that instill in young adults a
sense of empowerment to make the right choices in life and succeed, and
programs that provide young parents with access to healthcare they need
to raise children who will be successful and will themselves, in future
years, continue to contribute to a cycle of sustainable prosperity in
the Delta.
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