Press Releases: Northwest
December 19, 2006
Kaiser Permanente Community Fund At Northwest Health Foundation Awards Grant To Start "Project Hope"
"Proyecto Esperanza" will help reduce poverty and domestic violence among Mexican immigrants
GRESHAM, Ore. – Maria Elena Martinez is the matriarch of a three-generation Mexican immigrant family, all eight of them, her daughters, her son, his wife and three kids, squeezed into a three-bedroom apartment at Rockwood Landing in Gresham. Her son is the only one working, and what he makes - $11.00 an hour planting trees for a nursery - isn't enough to support the family. Martinez receives a little money from her deceased husband's pension, but she still relies on food donations and charity to get by. "I spent several days going from business to business looking for work, but because I don't speak English they wouldn't hire me," says the 58-year-old grandmother.
Her story is similar to that of hundreds of other women who live at Rockwood Landing and the neighboring Riviera Garden Apartments. There are 450 families here from regions all over Mexico. And despite the close quarters, the women say it's difficult to make close friends. "There's a very big sense of isolation, people just don't want to come out of their apartments," says 31-year-old Sandra Pachecco, who shares a 2-bedroom apartment with her husband and three kids.
But isolation and poverty aren't the only barriers. "We found that eight of ten of these women are in relationships where there is domestic violence," says Maria Lisa Johnson, Executive Director of the Latino Network - the organization that received the $150,000 grant. Latino Network has already conducted health education programs at Rockwood Landing. "We visited with the women in their homes and that's when we learned how rampant the violence is," says Johnson.
Most of the Project Hope (Proyecto Esperanza) grant money will pay two community health workers to help facilitate "charlas" or circles of strength where 15-20 women will gather weekly in the community kitchen to cook and talk. The workers will introduce conversations about parenting, nutrition, exercise, and eventually family violence. "We have to first gain their trust before they will talk about domestic violence," says Johnson. "In most of these families only the men are working, so the women feel like they have no choice but to tolerate the abuse."
That's where the rest of the grant money comes in. It will pay for loans of $100-$500 so the women can start their own small businesses such as tamale making or home child-care. Patterned after the successful experiences of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the loans will be administered by the women themselves-and the only collateral will be a promise to pay the money back. "We're hoping to create enough personal assets and independence among these women that they feel they have an option to leave their abusive situation," says Johnson.
The Latino Network is one of 11 organizations to receive a grant in 2006 through the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund (KPCF) at the Northwest Health Foundation (NWHF).
The grants totaled $1.7 million and were awarded to organizations working to improve the health of the communities served by Kaiser Permanente Northwest - an area from Longview, Wash., to Salem, Ore.
Following is a complete listing of all of the community fund grants:
2006 KAISER PERMANENTE COMMUNITY FUND GRANTS
- American Lung Association of Oregon
Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing Campaign - $200,000 over 3 years Support for a campaign to create smoke-free environments in multi-unit rental properties in the Portland metropolitan area.
- Asian Health and Service Center
Tea Link: A Community Engagement Program - $270,518 over 3 years Support for a community engagement program that provides a social network for Asians isolated by language barriers in the Portland metropolitan area.
- The Children's Institute
Expanding High Quality Pre-Kindergarten Access for At-Risk Children - $250,000 over 3 years Support for an advocacy campaign to expand access to pre-kindergarten, a program that provides health and developmental screenings for at-risk children in Oregon.
- Community Action
Housing First - $200,000 over 3 years Support for a fund that provides housing subsidies and support services for homeless individuals and families, and for those at risk of homelessness in Washington County.
- Educational Opportunities for Children and Families
Southwest Washington Coalition on Physical Activity and Nutrition Pilot Project - $85,032 over 3 years To identify and address the environmental factors affecting children's access to physical activity practices and nutritious foods in early childhood development and day care programs in Clark County.
- Friends of Zenger Farm
Lents International Farmer's Market - $145,189 over 3 years To develop an international farmer's market in a culturally diverse neighborhood in southeast Portland.
- The Housing Development Corporation of Northwest Oregon
Promotores Program - $50,136 over 3 years To train and support seven community connectors (promotores) working within two low-income housing facilities to promote children's success in school and connect residents with health education and job training resources in Washington County.
- Latino Network
Proyecto Esperanza / Project Hope - $149,600 over 2 years To implement strategies to reduce family violence and create economic opportunities for Latinas living in two low-income apartment buildings in the city of Gresham.
- Metropolitan Family Services
North Clackamas Experience Corps - Intergenerational Mentoring - $177,001 over 3 years Support for a mentoring program at one elementary and one middle school that matches older adults with students facing multiple barriers to wellness in Clackamas County.
- Morrison Child & Family Services
North Portland Children and Families Partnership - $58,800 over 1 year To provide integrated, multi-disciplinary services including health screenings, early childhood education, and case management for low-income families living in north Portland.
- Oregon Health Action Campaign
Empowering the Consumer Voice in Health Access - $160,000 over 2 years To encourage health care consumers to participate in and contribute to the public dialogue about health care access and reform in Oregon.
About the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund
The Kaiser Permanente Community Fund was established at the Northwest Health Foundation in 2004 and is the Foundation's largest donor-advised fund. In 2006 the fund advisors chose to support 11 community-based projects that address the root causes of health disparities through prevention rather than medical care. What connects the diverse portfolio of grants is a deliberate focus on the social factors - such as employment and housing - that have a profound impact on health, particularly for the most vulnerable people in a community.
Founded in 1997, the Northwest Health Foundation is an independent, charitable foundation committed to advancing, supporting, and promoting the health of the people of Oregon and southwest Washington. Embracing its role as the community's partner for better health, the Foundation achieves its mission primarily through grantmaking and support for advocacy efforts that influence public policy. NWHF also administers donor-advised funds for agencies and individual philanthropists throughout the Pacific Northwest. See www.nwhf.org.
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, the organization serves the health needs of more than 8.4 million people nationwide. More than 485,000 people in Oregon and Southwest Washington receive their health care from Kaiser Permanente.
