During the ongoing economic downturn that has touched the entire
country, many nonprofit organizations have found their services – such
as food pantries, temporary shelters and medical clinics – to be
increasingly important to their communities. Complicating their ability
to serve the public, a June 2009 study by the Giving USA Foundation
shows that two-thirds of charities saw drops in donation levels in 2008,
with expectations for a similar decline in 2009.
In response to these challenges, The Humana Foundation, philanthropic
arm of health-benefits company Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), launched an
Economic Response Grant Program in August. Nonprofits were encouraged to
submit project proposals between $10,000 and $50,000 focusing on
safety-net services, including the provision of food, shelter and
assistance to
at-risk children and senior citizens. The
Foundation received 161 applications from 24 states and selected eight
nonprofits to receive Economic Response Grants totaling $300,000.
“In today’s economic climate, we understand that nonprofits are facing
tough times,” said Virginia K. Judd, executive director of The Humana
Foundation. “While resources are constrained, demand for services is on
the rise. As the need becomes greater every day, we hope these Economic
Response Grants will provide assistance for nonprofits to find
innovative solutions to current challenges.”
The eight recipients of the Economic Response Grants include Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee in Nashville, Tenn.; The Centre
for Women in Tampa, Fla.; Covenant House Florida in Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla.; Dare to Care in Louisville, Ky.; Desert Mission in Phoenix.; HAVEN
Inc. in Pontiac, Mich.; National Safe Place with locations in Chicago,
Dallas, Miami, Louisville, Ky., and Ft. Myers, Fla.; and St. Vincent’s
House in Galveston, Texas.
The Humana Foundation Economic
Response Grant Recipients
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee (BBBSMT), based in
Nashville, Tenn., helps children reach their potential through
one-to-one mentoring relationships. As a recipient of the Economic
Response Grant, BBBSMT will supplement their recently launched Operation
Mentor program, uniting more at-risk children with mentors in East
Nashville. For more information, visit
www.mentorakid.org.
The Centre for Women, based in Tampa, Fla., serves 3,000 members
each year and provides substance-abuse treatment, employment services,
family counseling, and programs for seniors and girls. To streamline
operations and better serve its members, The Centre for Women will use
the Economic Response Grant to update and consolidate software and
databases. For more information, visit
www.centreforwomen.org.
Covenant House Florida, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., provides
residential care and services to disadvantaged, medically underserved
homeless youth and their children. The More Opportunities for Mom
Project, implemented through the Economic Response Grant, will help
provide safety-net services to pregnant and parenting homeless teen
mothers and their children. The goal is to help parents become more
self-sufficient. For more information, visit
www.covenanthousefl.org.
Dare to Care, based in Louisville, Ky., reaches more than 150,000
people in the Kentuckiana region through a network of 320 food pantries,
emergency kitchens and shelters. In tough economic times, many
nonprofits do not have the resources to operate a regular food pantry in
their communities. Dare to Care will use the Economic Response Grant to
help fund its 2010 Mobile Pantry program, which partners with community
organizations to provide perishable and non-perishable food for
immediate distribution. For more information, visit
www.daretocare.org.
Desert Mission, based in Phoenix, provides care to vulnerable
families in North Phoenix, with services including a food bank,
community health center, children’s dental clinic, family resource
center and learning center. The Economic Response Grant will be used to
help supplement children’s medical costs at the health center and
provide senior citizens with groceries at the food pantry. For more
information, visit
www.jcl.com/content/desertmission.
HAVEN Inc., based in Pontiac, Mich., strives to eliminate
domestic violence and sexual assault across Oakland County and the
surrounding communities. HAVEN will use the Economic Response Grant to
help increase employment resources for the Residence Program for
Domestic Violence Victims. Securing employment will help members live
independently. For more information, visit
www.haven-oakland.org.
National Safe Place provides access to immediate help and
supportive resources for young people in crisis through a network of
locations sustained by qualified agencies, trained volunteers and
businesses. The Economic Response Grant funding will be used for
additional Safe Place Agency training in Chicago, Dallas, Miami,
Louisville, Ky., and Ft. Myers, Fla., cities where unemployment and
homelessness rates outpace the national rate. These training programs
will help agencies expand capacity and serve more youth. For more
information, visit
www.nationalsafeplace.org.
St. Vincent’s House, based in Galveston, Tex., provides outreach
programs and social services, such as food, shelter, health care and
child care, for the disadvantaged, underserved and working poor. As
recipient of the Economic Response Grant, St. Vincent’s House will
implement a program to provide prescription drug and vaccine assistance
for its low-income population. For more information, visit
www.stvhope.org.
About The Humana Foundation
The Humana Foundation was established in 1981 as the philanthropic arm
of Humana Inc., one of the nation’s leading health-benefits companies.
The Foundation is located in Louisville, Ky., the site of Humana’s
corporate headquarters. The Foundation’s mission is to support
charitable activities that promote healthy lives and healthy
communities. For more information, visit
www.humanafoundation.org.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is one of the nation’s
largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with
approximately 10.3 million medical members and approximately 7.3 million
specialty-benefit members. Humana is a full-service benefits solutions
company, offering a wide array of health and supplemental benefit plans
for employer groups, government programs and individuals.
Over its 48-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities
to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in
consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a
better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer
portfolio.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the
Investor Relations page of the company’s Web site at
www.humana.com,
including copies of:
- Annual reports to stockholders
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Most recent investor conference presentations
- Quarterly earnings news releases
- Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
- Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors)
- Corporate Governance Information
