Episcopal Health Foundation Supports ACAM’s Health Benefits Access Project with $295,000 Grant
The Alliance of Community Assistance Ministries, Inc. (ACAM) is pleased to announce the receipt of a $295,000 grant from the Episcopal Health Foundation. In response to the current shortage of benefits access assistance for low-income families in Harris County, ACAM and its ministry partners have formed a Collaborative Health Benefits Access Project (HBAP).
The Alliance of Community Assistance Ministries, Inc. (ACAM) is pleased to announce the receipt of a $295,000 grant from the Episcopal Health Foundation. In response to the current shortage of benefits access assistance for low-income families in Harris County, ACAM and its ministry partners have formed a Collaborative Health Benefits Access Project (HBAP). The grant funding from the Episcopal Health Foundation will allow five of ACAM’s member community assistance ministries to increase access and remove barriers to critical benefits and financial assistance (e.g., SNAP, CHIP, TANF, Medicaid/Medicare, WIC, SSI/SSDI and Harris Health System’s Financial Assistance Program).
“Recent research is showing us that individuals living in poverty are at greater risk for chronic health conditions,” said Sharon Zachary, CEO of ACAM. “For low-income families, untreated illness and excessive medical bills are significant triggers for homelessness.” In addition to increasing access to benefits, ACAM’s research will evaluate how increasing the scale of benefits access services impacts utilization of medical services and the establishment of relationships with primary health care providers.
Harris Health Systems has endorsed the project and will be assisting in training HBAP Collaborative staff. “The training that Harris Health Systems is offering will give us a huge advantage in getting this project scaled-up quickly. By stepping in to scale-up their benefits access assistance services, the HBAP collaborative will alleviate a key threat to the health and well-being of vulnerable families in Harris County,” said Ms. Zachary. This is the first grant of its kind offered by Episcopal Health Foundation. The project will close in October 2015.
