Raising Healthier City Kids - The New York Community Trust

October 10, 2018 | By The New York Community Trust

Raising Healthier City Kids

COMMUNITY SUPPORT: A new mother is connected to community resources by a licensed social worker and interns, thanks to a grant to NewYork-Presbyterian from The Trust.

Funding connects pediatric care with community services

After taking vitals and giving immunizations, pediatric practices in New York City are doing something new: Assessing children’s risk of hunger, homelessness, violence, stress, and other factors that are often referred to as the social determinants of health.

The challenge? How to address these risks.

The Trust, along with the United Hospital Fund of New York, Altman Foundation, and the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation, is helping pediatric practices connect families with community services. All in an effort to keep kids and families healthy.

Doctors at NYU Langone Health’s clinic in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, have found that families worry about being able to buy food. They also want better jobs, but need child care to attend classes to learn English and other skills. With our funding, the clinic’s new Spanish-speaking “patient navigator” will help families enroll in food stamps, get legal aid, and schedule appointments.

Another grant is making sure families follow-up on referrals and appointments. New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center is starting an online messaging, tracking, and appointment reminder system that connects patients and practitioners.

A total of $160,000 from The Trust is supporting these and similar efforts at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York-Presbyterian/Queens, Northwell Health, and St. John’s Episcopal Hospital. A $40,000 grant to the United Hospital Fund of New York will bring these health organizations together to share ideas and experiences.

A GIFT FOR HOSPITALS

In her will, Katherine Sloan Pratt created a permanent fund in The New York Community Trust to benefit hospitals. The grants above were made from her fund, and we think she’d be pleased to know she is helping New York families raise healthier kids.