A Pittsburgh-based maternal and child health care collaborative will undertake a unique and innovative initiative to help families face the challenges of parental depression and early childhood developmental delays.

Under U.S. federal law, all states must implement a system of early intervention services for infants and toddlers, birth to age three, who have developmental concerns, and their families. Many states do not include risk factors in their eligibility criteria.

The Helping Families Raise Healthy Children initiative is supported by a three-year, $500,000 matching grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships program. The grant was awarded to Community Care, the managed behavioral health care organization in Allegheny County. Local funders of the initiative currently include The Highmark Foundation (nominating funder), UPMC Health Plan, The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Fine Foundation, FISA Foundation, and Jewish Healthcare Foundation.

With local health providers’ budgets strained by the current economy, two local foundations are teaming up to help keep Cambridge residents healthy. Tufts Health Plan Foundation and Cambridge Community Foundation joined forces to make $17,000 in grants this week for local health projects.

The Tufts Health Plan Foundation’s mission is to promote healthy lifestyles and the delivery of quality care in its communities. The Tufts Health Plan Foundation is focusing on healthy aging to help meet the challenges of an aging society. The Cambridge Community Foundation supports a range of agencies that enhance the quality of life for Cambridge residents of all ages and backgrounds. CCF has a rich history of bringing people and institutions together to meet the challenges of changing community needs.

A $50,000 grant was awarded to Florida Tech from the Community Foundation of Brevard’s Kenneth R. Finken and Dorothy Hallam Finken Endowment Fund for research into the cause and cure of Alzheimer’s disease.

The lead Florida Tech researcher is Dr. Shaohua Xu, associate professor of biological sciences, who is already studying the origin of Alzheimer’s disease, using atomic force microscopy to test his unique theory.

It's the good the bad and the ugly of Waterloo Region's day to day life. 

The second annual Vital Signs study was released today by the Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation and other agencies.

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A $7.5 million grant from the Los Angeles-based California Community Foundation to a Dallas Foundation fund will benefit thousands of North Texas servicemen and servicewomen and their families.

The grant will provide increased emergency assistance, mental and physical health services, and other programs.

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The Community Foundation of East Mississippi hosted a meeting Friday to discuss childhood obesity in Mississippi.

The conversation was guided by Therese Hanna, executive director of the Center for Mississippi Health Policy, and Anne Travis, executive director of the Bower Foundation.

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Wild Rivers Community Foundation has spearheaded an effort to bring resources and awareness to the issue of dental disease on the Wild Rivers Coast.

"Wild Rivers Smiles!" was initiated by the foundation board, which recognized the need after consulting with the Community Assistance Network (CAN) and saw that this was a chance to convene partners to enhance community health," said Doug Morgan, executive director of CAN.

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Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has awarded 21 grants totaling $3.3 million for innovations in pediatric hospice care, fighting childhood obesity, expanding a popular entrepreneurial training program for youth and creating a new Jewish history center on the site of the first synagogue in Phoenix.

"Piper Trust is honored to support projects that introduce new models and best practices, and build on the rich heritage of the Valley," said Judy Jolley Mohraz, Ph.D., president and CEO of Piper Trust. "These grants will make a difference in the lives of our youngest to our oldest residents throughout the Valley."

$3.3 million in grants made to Maricopa County nonprofits.

The Kendrick Foundation Inc. has announced the start of its fall grant cycle for 2008. Earlier this year, the Kendrick Foundation awarded more than $1 million in its first grant cycle.

The Kendrick Foundation funds health and healthcare-related projects, and applicants must be nonprofit 501c3 organizations, public schools or governmental entities located in or serving Morgan County.

To mail items to the office, send them to the Community Foundation of Morgan County Inc. at 250 North Monroe Street, Mooresville, IN 46158.

Kendrick Foundation Inc. announces fall grant cycle.

Tri-City Hospital Foundation in San Diego has received a $150,000 grant to help it recruit more minorities into nursing careers.

A Center for Nursing Diversity will be set up at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside.

California Wellness Foundation gave the hospital the grant, to be used over a three-year period, to address the nursing shortage in North County.

The shortage is especially felt, according to a hospital news release, in the need for nurses with language and cultural skills to help patients from a diverse population. A current survey shows that 27 percent of patients but only 5 percent of nurses to serve them are Latino, the release said.

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