TAMIU Part of Healthcare Providers Awarded $13 Million by Largest Faith-Based Grantmaker in South Texas
Seven organizations from the Rio Grande Valley, Coastal Bend and Laredo selected as inaugural cohort of Methodist Healthcare Ministries' Sí Texas Project
McAllen, TX – Today, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. (MHM), the largest private, faith-based funding source for healthcare services in South Texas and a grantee of the Social Innovation Fund, announced a $13 million investment in South Texas' health care delivery system, as part of its Sí Texas Project: Social Innovation for a Healthy South Texas. Seven organizations from the Rio Grande Valley, Coastal Bend and Laredo’s Texas A&M International University were introduced as the inaugural cohort of sub-grantees of the initiative.
TAMIU will receive $1.7 million for each of the five years of the program’s duration. The federal funding will target three problem areas in Laredo: depression, diabetes and obesity.
The sub-grants made to these organizations represent $13 million in funding to explore integrated behavioral health models that are effectively improving health outcomes in communities with high rates of poverty, depression, diabetes, obesity and associated risk factors.
"We at Methodist Healthcare Ministries are thrilled these seven organizations emerged as the trail blazers that will help test strategies that prove to be the most effective means, as evidenced by an evaluation of their models, to address these health issues," said MHM President & CEO, Kevin C. Moriarty. "As a grant maker and direct service provider in this region, we are grateful to the Social Innovation Fund for recognizing that the best way to encourage innovation and to learn what truly works to solve a problem is to invest in it through organizations that know the communities and the populations they serve."
In 2014, MHM received federal funding from the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), to grow the impact of innovative, community-based solutions that have compelling evidence of improving the lives of people in low-income communities throughout the United States. MHM is the first-ever faith-based organization to receive funding from the SIF.
"We couldn't be more enthusiastic for the seven organizations selected today. They are making tremendous strides to improve physical and behavioral health outcomes for individuals in low-income communities across South Texas," said Lois Nembhard, Acting Director of the Social Innovation Fund. "We're pleased to work with Methodist Healthcare Ministries' Sí Texas Project to offer compelling solutions to address health outcomes in South Texas over the five year period."
MHM launched an open competition in November 2014 for promising organizations with evidence of results to submit applications to receive subgrants of at least $250,000 to $2 million. The selected organizations will expand their reach to impact more people and will participate in evaluations to continue learning what works in the area of integrated behavioral health.
The seven South Texas organizations selected as the inaugural cohort of sub-grantees for the Sí Texas Project are:
· Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), Webb County
· Lower Rio Grande Valley Community Health Management Corp, Inc. (El Milagro Clinic), Hidalgo County
· The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA), Hidalgo County
· Tropical Texas Behavioral Health, Cameron County
· Community Hope Projects, Inc. (Hope Family Health Center), Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy, and Cameron Counties
· Mercy Ministries of Laredo, Webb County
· Rural Economic Assistance League (REAL), Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, and Kleberg Counties
According to the 2001-2003 National Comorbidity Survey Replication, 68 percent of adults with mental disorders also had at least one general medical disorder, and 29 percent of adults with medical disorders had a comorbid mental health condition. Similarly, in 2008 an article published in The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine reported the depression rate in South Texas among Hispanic patients with Type 2 diabetes was at 39 percent. The Sí Texas Project, through its sub-grantees, will attempt to build an intricate network of cross-sector partnerships that will lead region-wide improvements in those conditions.
The announcement was made during a two-day convening, where sub-grantees participated in sessions designed to prepare them for the evaluation and management of the grant funds. A second round of sub-grantees will be selected following an open, competitive application process ending May 29, 2015. Grants awarded during the second cycle will begin August 1, 2015. For more information about the second application visit www.mhm.org.
###
About Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. is a private, faith-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing medical, dental and health-related human services to low-income families and the uninsured in South Texas. The mission of the organization is "Serving Humanity to Honor God" by improving the physical, mental and spiritual health of those least served in the Rio Texas Conference area of The United Methodist Church. The mission also includes MHM's one-half ownership of the Methodist Healthcare System, the largest healthcare system in South Texas, which creates a unique avenue to ensure that it continues to be a benefit to the community by providing quality care to all and charitable care when needed. For more information, visit www.mhm.org.
About The Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than five million Americans in service and champions community solutions through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads the President's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.
Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu