St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County Provides Grants to Area Non-Profits Serving the Most Vulnerable on the North Coast

St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County (SJH-HC) announced today that it will award $300,000 to 30 local non-profit organizations as part of its Care for the Poor Community Grant program. The funds – dispersed to agencies throughout the entire county – meet a variety of community needs such as hunger, housing, senior support, addiction, and health and wellness promotion.

“St. Joseph Health has a long tradition in Humboldt County of giving back to support the most vulnerable in our community,” said Martha Shanahan, manager of Community Health Investment, SJH-HC. “We’ve been in this community for 100 years and every investment we make is part of the fabric that makes Humboldt a great place to live.”

SJH-HC, which operates St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka and Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna, has long offered programs and services to the underserved in the county. Since 2012, SJH-HC has invested $1.7M in the local community through its Care for the Poor Community Grant program.
Overall, the Community Benefit impact on community programs and services from SJH-HC was $11.9M for 2019.

Noted Ms. Shanahan, “We recognize we can’t do this alone, by supporting local non-profit partners, we are saying, ‘you do great work, and we want you to do even more’”

For non-profits like Food for People, grants received from St. Joseph Health supports their mission to expand access to food countywide to the most poor and vulnerable.

“Our community is incredibly fortunate that St. Joseph Health understands that food security is an important determinant of health,” said Carly Robbins, Development Director for Food for People. “Food insecurity is associated with a higher risk of diet-related chronic diseases and is associated with greater healthcare costs, including avoidable emergency department visits. Providing access to nutritious food for vulnerable people locally helps create a healthy community for us all.”

“On behalf of our 1,200 caregivers that serve this community, St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County is proud to continue support of our community partnerships,” said Roberta Luskin-Hawk, M.D., Chief Executive, SJH-HC. “We are honored to carry on the legacy of our founding Sisters by remaining steadfast to elevating the quality of life of those in the communities we serve.”

The media is invited to the grant award ceremony on January 17, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. at the St. Joseph Hospital Conference Center located in the southwest corner of the main hospital.

St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County grantees in 2020 include the following agencies:

Westside Community Improvement Association

Willow Creek Youth Partnership dba Dream Quest

Mattole Restoration Council

Orick Elementary School

Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction (HACHR)

North Coast Growers' Association

Locally Delicious

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the North Coast

Area 1 Agency on Aging

Mercy’s Haven, Inc.

Eureka Rescue Mission

Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives

Wild Souls Ranch

Klamath Trinity Resource Conservation District

Arcata House Partnership

Betty Kwan Chin Homeless Foundation

Boys and Girls Club of the Redwoods

CASA of Humboldt

English Express

Food for People

Fortuna Adventist Community Services

Healy Senior Center of So. Humboldt Inc.

Hospice of Humboldt

Humboldt Network of Family Resource Centers

Humboldt Senior Resource Center

DHHS Public Health Branch, North Coast AIDS Project

North Coast Substance Abuse Council, Inc.

Redwood Community Action Agency, Family Services Division

St. Vincent de Paul

Wiyot Tribe

For more information about the Care for the Poor Community Grantmaking program, please contact Martha Shanahan at martha.shanahan@stjoe.org.

For more information about St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County Community Benefit please visit this link: https://www.stjoehumboldt.org/for-community/community-benefit/.