Georgia Community-Based Organizations Receive $106,000 in Grants from UnitedHealthcare to Support Health and Wellness Programs

UnitedHealthcare has donated $106,000 to 11 organizations in Georgia, including $25,000 to both the American Diabetes Association and the Atlanta Gospel Fest 10th Annual Healthcare & Music Festival, to help support health education and outreach programs that teach healthy lifestyles and aim to improve people’s health and well-being.

Jocelyn Chisholm Carter of UnitedHealthcare (top right) and Leslie Potts of the American Diabetes Association of Atlanta (left) help local residents learn about diabetes during a community outreach campaign to educate more than 10,000 people in the region about diabetes prevention and care. The initiative is being funded through a $25,000 grant by UnitedHealthcare to the ADA. UnitedHealthcare donated $106,000 to 11 organizations in Georgia, and are part of UnitedHealthcare's efforts to develop solutions that help care for the economically disadvantaged, the medically underserved and people who lack access to employer-funded health care coverage (Photo: Wingate Downs).

The grants are being provided to community-based organizations and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Georgia, and are part of UnitedHealthcare’s efforts to develop solutions that help care for the economically disadvantaged, the medically underserved and people who lack access to employer-funded health care coverage.

The Greater Atlanta chapter of the American Diabetes Association will use the grant to help fund research and community-outreach initiatives to prevent, cure and manage diabetes. This includes support for ADA’s Stop Diabetes® movement, a national call to action inspiring all Americans, not just people with diabetes, to come together to eradicate the disease and its impact on society.

“This grant increases our ability to help educate people who may be at risk of developing diabetes as well as those living with diabetes,” said Rena Cozart, executive director of American Diabetes Association, Atlanta. “ADA is proud to work with UnitedHealthcare to strengthen our research programs, increase awareness and help stop diabetes in our community.”

ADA will conduct community-outreach efforts to educate more than 10,000 people in the Atlanta region about diabetes prevention and care, including a major diabetes education initiative during the Atlanta Gospel Fest 10th Annual Healthcare & Music Festival.

Gospel Fest includes an array of dynamic music concerts, health care workshops, trainings, youth and entrepreneur activities, and financial and literary empowerment workshops. During the event, UnitedHealthcare and ADA will help educate the thousands of attendees about diabetes prevention, care and treatment programs. UnitedHealthcare is the presenting wellness sponsor and ADA the program sponsor of the two-day festival held July 24-25th that focuses on family, wellness, fun and entertainment.

“Gospel Fest is honored to have UnitedHealthcare and ADA as major sponsors and providing important educational resources about diabetes and other wellness programs,” said Dr. Riki Brooks, organizer of Atlanta Gospel Fest. “Diabetes is a major health issue in our state, and together we can help thousands of attendees become more aware and help them identify ways to improve their health.”

Additional UnitedHealthcare grant recipients include:

• Boys & Girls Club, $15,000, to support various youth afterschool programs that teach healthy lifestyles, character and leadership by engaging young people in activities with positive adult role models and peers.
• Atlanta Healthy Start Initiative – Center for Black Women's Wellness (CBWW), $8,000, to improve maternal and infant health outcomes through home-visitation services. The grant funds a new library of pregnancy preparation books and supports upcoming pregnancy-preparation conferences for pregnant mothers and family-support workers.
• Kindred Spirit Home – City of Refuge, $7,500, to help pregnant and/or parenting teen girls prepare for economic self-sufficiency. The grant also supports programs that give teen moms access to timely and routine prenatal and infant medical care.
• Sickle Cell Foundation, $7,500, to improve treatments, research and educational resources to enhance patients’ and their families’ health and quality of life.
• Atlanta Community Food Bank, $6,000, for its annual Hunger Walk/Run that supports food-assistance programs and services for people in need, with the goal of helping end local hunger.
• Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia (HHCGA), $5,000, to support and expand diabetes education programs that include direct advocacy to Hispanic/Latinos diagnosed with diabetes and encouraging regular medical visits, proper nutrition and medical care.
• Samaritan Clinic, $2,500, to support the Diabetes Cohort Program, which aims to give uninsured low-income patients access to the right tools, education and care to successfully manage their diabetes that will improve care, reduce emergency-room visits and lower costs.
• General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, $2,500, to address and provide leadership in early-childhood education, obesity and substance-misuse prevention.
• Georgia Rural Health Association, $2,000, to support and further the organization’s efforts to improve health care services and the health of rural Georgians through its nonprofit network of health care providers, educators and individuals.

Jocelyn Chisholm Carter of UnitedHealthcare announced the grants during the Atlanta Gospel Fest kick-off event.

“UnitedHealthcare is grateful for the opportunity to support ADA, Gospel Fest and other Georgia organizations that are working every day to help families, young parents and children live healthier lives through their community-based education, training and outreach programs,” she said. “We are honored to help provide new resources and tools to strengthen the support they provide locally, particularly in medically underserved communities.”

According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 1 million Georgians suffer from diabetes. The ADA predicts that if present trends continue, one out of every three children, including one in two minority children, will face a future with diabetes. This grant is one way UnitedHealthcare and the ADA are partnering to educate the public about how to stop diabetes and support people who are living with this disease.

According to the 2014 America’s Health Rankings® report, an annual comprehensive assessment of the nation’s health on a state-by-state basis, Georgia ranks 38th in overall health. Nearly 11 percent of adults in Georgia have diabetes, ranking 37th, and above the national average of 9.6 percent.

UnitedHealthcare serves more than 1 million people in Georgia with a care provider network of 164 hospitals and nearly 20,000 care providers statewide.

About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 850,000 physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. Globally, UnitedHealthcare serves 45 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.

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