Local organizations get $115,000 in grants from Mercy Medical Center

Four community organizations received $115,888 from Mercy Medical Center and its parent company, Dignity Health, on Tuesday to continue the improvement of health and wellness in underserved communities.

The largest amount was awarded to the Merced County Rescue Mission, which will use its $75,000 grant to provide temporary housing and aid for patients who have been discharged from the hospital but have no place to stay.

According to the hospital’s administrative staff, $75,000 is the largest amount ever awarded to a Merced organization by the community grants program.

Bruce Metcalf, executive director at the Rescue Mission, said the grant will support the renting of a house and basic services for the start of the Hope Respite Care program.

“The hospital at times would have homeless people who needed to be discharged and there really is no place for them to go,” Metcalf said.

He explained that on several occasions people would make their way to the Rescue Mission for help, but it is not equipped to provide medical care. Metcalf and his team learned about respite care – providing a short-term, homelike environment to people who need additional assistance.

The Rescue Mission has teamed up with the hospital, which will release appropriate patients to the program, and with Horisons Unlimited Healthcare, which will provide the necessary medical follow-ups to the discharged patients.

The respite program will be based at a house at 900 N. St. Metcalf explained that the home will initially be able to board up to four men and four women at a time. The program got a head start on its Jan. 1 grant agreement with the hospital and opened its doors the last week of December 2014.

The house is already serving one man and one woman.

“We’re excited because this can be a win-win for the homeless and to help the hospital and health care system,” Metcalf said. “Shelters and the sidewalk are not appropriate for someone who has just been released from the hospital.”

According to Metcalf, the program will also work to provide patients with public resources in an attempt to reduce readmittance to the hospital.

The Boys & Girls Club of Merced County received $20,888, which will go to its health and fitness curriculum.

Tony Slaton, the club’s executive director, said the grant will help support summer programs such as the annual trip to Yosemite National Park, which many. local children will visit for the first time.

“Those kids describe the trip as the best thing they’ve ever done in their lives,” he said. Slaton, who grew up in Merced, said that getting out of the area and being exposed to other surroundings is crucial to growth and development. “I hope that we’re able to do that for the young people that we serve.”

Alpha Crisis Pregnancy Center in Merced was awarded $15,000. Carrie Alexander, the center’s executive director, said the money will support its new mobile unit, enabling pregnancy tests, ultrasounds and other services for women in underserved communities.

The remaining $5,000 went to the local chapter of Girl Scouts. Julie Whitehouse, the vice president of fund development for the organization, said the money will help sponsor 60 girls for a summer day camp that will focus on health and wellness education.

Janice Wilkerson, the director of mission integration at Mercy Medical Center, said this year, the hospital received 21 letters of intent proposing a variety of community projects. The four organizations were chosen by a committee as those that best reflected the needs of the community.

“It’s a way for us to give back to our communities, to advocate for the underserved and to improve the quality of life of our residents,” Wilkerson said.

This year, Dignity Health awarded 99 community grants throughout its hospitals, totaling a little more than $4 million.

This story was originally published January 6, 2015 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Local organizations get $115,000 in grants from Mercy Medical Center."