Feb 12 2010
The Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare announced today that it has awarded a $35,000 grant to Fragile Kids Foundation, Inc. (FKF), a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta, Ga.
The grant award will launch the Fragile Kids Partner Program, an effort to better reach underserved, rural Georgia families caring for medically fragile children with a range of diagnoses, including cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, mitochondrial disorder and other genetic/trauma disorders. The goal of the program is to provide medical equipment and therapy tools to those children in Georgia who are not covered by insurance or any other healthcare option by collaborating with partners in the state that are established social, educational and therapy "homes."
"For many medically fragile children, durable medical products represent the sort of crucial equipment needed for them to grow and thrive," said Kathy Bradley-Wells, President, Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare. "The Fragile Kids Partners Program strengthens FKF's capacity to serve children and families who experience healthcare disparities throughout Georgia."
"In a grassroots effort to reach out to rural caregivers of special-needs and chronically ill children, we learned that we share so many of the same families in our equipment grants program with other smaller organizations," said Carolyn Polakowski, Executive Director, Fragile Kids Foundation. "We discovered that these small, struggling community resource initiatives rarely have the appropriate medical equipment for children in attendance to share. Joining forces with these smaller partners is a natural progression of our mission to fill the gaps for all children with a medically fragile diagnosis. This grant from the Centene Foundation will empower us to launch the program statewide and deepen our network of community advocates and therapists."
SOURCE The Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare
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