Central Florida nonprofit Grace Medical Home has put its $50,000 grant from the Winter Park Health Foundation to good use this year, bringing its Mobile Medical Unit into Eatonville.
Partnering with the Central Florida Black Nurses Association, Grace Medical Home has hosted a series of community health events in the historic town, which is considered a “medical desert” with limited or no access to healthcare services. The events feature workshops, vision screenings, immunizations, health checks and food donations.
For many people, traveling for appointments creates cost and time barriers that prevent them from receiving the care they need. This initiative enables care to meet Eatonville residents where they are.
“What Grace Medical Home is doing through this program is not only providing much-needed clinical care, but it’s also building trust, and that’s a really powerful thing,” said Lindsay Kist, Vice President of WPHF.
Grace Medical Home received its WPHF funding last November through our Well Together Grant Awards Challenge. The organization took home an additional $15,000 in unrestricted grant dollars from WPHF after placing second in the showcase competition.
A significant focus of the Eatonville outreach efforts is to raise awareness of the dangers of heart disease and diabetes, two illnesses that are prevalent in the town, which is the oldest Black-incorporated municipality in the United States.
Involving trusted members of the community in the initiative is key, said Constance Brown, a nurse with the Central Florida Black Nurses Association.
“For people to see someone who looks like them come into their town and care for them… I believe it’s very important for the town of Eatonville.”
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