A high impact program that brings health care to the most vulnerable and overlooked populations in the Merrimack Valley has received a $100,000 boost from the Yawkey Foundation.
The Yawkey grant will be used to help Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC) purchase a new clinical vehicle for its Mobile Health Program – ensuring expansion of a program that currently serves more than 1,100 patients a year.
“For many years, the single highest health-related need for residents in the Merrimack Valley has been access to care,” said Guy L. Fish, MD, MBA, President & CEO of GLFHC. “Our mobile health program delivers high quality care to those least in a position to access care. We have proven the model works and, with a great partner in the Yawkey Foundation – who values providing resources, opportunity, and dignity to the vulnerable – we can do even more.”
The health center’s Mobile Health Program (MHP) provides critical health care, substance use disorder support and social services to patients and non-patients, both housed and homeless. Clinical teams are on the road five days a week, delivering care where it is most needed at day shelters, soup kitchens and other locations in Lawrence, Haverhill, Methuen, and Lowell.
“Our Trustees were inspired by how the Mobile Health Program is uniquely positioned to provide access to quality health care in neighborhoods and locations that meet individuals where they are, both logistically and in their journeys to wellness,” said Maureen H. Bleday, Yawkey Foundation CEO. “Greater Lawrence Family Health Center’s outreach program supporting patients throughout Merrimack Valley’s Gateway Cities reflects the charitable actions and values of Jean and Tom Yawkey during their lifetimes.”
In addition to offering primary care and medical intervention, mobile clinic staff work with patients to help enroll them in health insurance, find a safe shelter or place to live, and work to break the cycle of substance abuse.
The $100,000 Yawkey Foundation grant will be coupled with other donations, enabling the health center to purchase an additional mobile clinic that will be operational in spring 2024. With two state-of-the-art exam rooms, it will effectively triple GLFHC’s mobile services patient capacity.
Greater Lawrence Family Health Center is the second largest community health center in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It operates seven clinical sites and six full-service pharmacies open to the public in Lawrence, Haverhill and Methuen. It also operates two school-based health centers and a community support site.
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About Yawkey Foundation: The Yawkey Foundation is dedicated to perpetuating the philanthropic legacy of Tom Yawkey and Jean Yawkey, whose eight decades of quiet generosity supported individuals and families in the communities that were closest to their hearts –Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina. Having awarded more than $550 million to date in charitable grants to organizations focused on Health Care, Education, Human Services, Youth and Amateur Athletics, Arts and Culture, and Conservation and Wildlife, Yawkey Foundation is committed to preserving and sustaining the charitable values of the Yawkeys by investing in impactful nonprofits providing resources, opportunity, and dignity to the vulnerable and underserved. For more information, please visit www.yawkeyfoundation.org.