UnitedHealthcare recently awarded $500,000 in Empowering Health grants to six community-based organizations in Georgia to expand access to care and address the social determinants of health for uninsured individuals and underserved communities.
In total, UnitedHealthcare is donating $11.4 million through Empowering Health grants across 18 states and the District of Columbia. The grants will assist individuals and families experiencing challenges from food insecurity, social isolation and behavioral health issues, and support local health promotion and health literacy efforts.
Grant recipients in Georgia include:
- National Birth Equity Collaborative – $125,000 to implement the Birth Equity Practice Center for ongoing training and promotion of healthier birth experiences and health outcomes for Black birthing people and their babies statewide.
- Atlanta Community Food Bank – $100,000 to support the Food as Medicine program, a food pharmacy program in collaboration with Grady Health System that helps patients with certain chronic conditions improve their health with nutritious food prescriptions and more.
- Wellspring Living – $100,000 to expand behavioral health programming through the addition of an enrichment coordinator and a nutritionist, and the provision of equine-assisted therapy (activities with horses and members of the horse family to promote physical and mental health) for participants recovery at the Receiving Hope Center.
- Emory University – $75,000 to improve health outcomes in Black mothers and their babies by supporting culturally responsive outreach and engagement in a mindfulness-based intervention addressing previous trauma, mental health needs and adverse childhood experiences.
- Open Hand Atlanta – $75,000 to expand its six-week Cooking Matters for Healthcare Partners nutrition and cooking education class.
- Hope Center – $25,000 to purchase a refrigerated vehicle for distributing fresh produce and boxed meals to homebound senior adults and families living in the Albany area.
“Social and economic factors have a profound impact on achieving and maintaining good health,” said Tiah Tomlin, manager of community engagement, UnitedHealthcare of Georgia. “Through Empowering Health grants, we’re working with local organizations to provide Georgians with greater access to essential resources in high-risk and high-need communities so they can live healthier lives.”
Good health encompasses more than simply visiting a doctor’s office. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, nearly 80% of what influences a person’s health relates to nonmedical issues, such as food, housing, transportation and the financial means to pay for basic daily needs. And for so many, the global pandemic has caused additional social and economic challenges that continue to affect healthy behaviors and exacerbate health disparities.
Since launching its Empowering Health commitment in 2018, UnitedHealthcare has now invested more than $40 million in Empowering Health grants reaching more than 6 million people through partnerships with community-based organizations in 29 states.
UnitedHealth Group, including UnitedHealthcare and Optum, and its affiliated companies, is committed to reducing health disparities and building healthier communities by supporting programs to improve access to care and address key determinants of health. In Georgia this includes more than $6.8 million in contributions from 2018-2020 representing its businesses, foundations and employees.
Additionally, UnitedHealth Group has invested more than $500 million in affordable housing communities since 2011, partnered with food banks and meal-delivery services, and in 2019 joined with the American Medical Association to standardize how social determinants of health data is collected and used to create more holistic care plans.
