When Salem Health employees come to work, they have one goal: to improve the health and well-being of the communities they serve.

Other local organizations share this vision, and Salem Health is teaming up with several of these groups through its Community Partnership Grant program.

Salem Health introduced the Community Partnership Grant program in Oct. 2014, in conjunction with the fifth anniversary of the Community Health Education Center. Funding is provided to encourage collaborative and innovative engagement among community agencies that share a common vision for better health.

After conducting a community needs assessment during 2014, the Community Benefits Committee selected three areas for the grants to focus on: diabetes education and prevention, mental health, and transportation (for medical needs). Four projects were selected with a total of $168,477:

• Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties received $27,000 to expand its Healthy Lifestyles Education Program to include diabetes education and prevention among low-income youth and their families.

• HOME Youth & Resource Center, a place to meet the needs of Salem’s at-risk and homeless youth, was awarded $41,537 to extend its current services to seven days a week, filling a community gap in resources.

• Salvation Army of Salem received $50,000 to hire a Qualified Mental Health Professional to work with residents who have mental health barriers residing in the shelter serving homeless adults in Marion and Polk counties.

• Oregon State University Extension Service was awarded $49,940 to expand the Just Walk Salem program into six high school feeder neighborhoods. Just Walk Salem is a grass roots movement aimed at increasing physical activity and reducing diabetes through organized neighborhood walking groups.

Healthy communities are a team project, and it is a privilege for Salem Health to partner with these like-minded organizations.

Salem Health is comprised of Salem Hospital, West Valley Hospital, Willamette Health Partners and other affiliated health care organizations offering exceptional care to people in and around Oregon’s mid-Willamette Valley. The prestigious 2015 Truven Health 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals named Salem Hospital among the highest performing hospitals in the nation—and the only Oregon hospital, and one of two Pacific Northwest hospitals, to receive this honor. “Like” us on Facebook; follow us on Twitter; and view us at YouTube.