Extending Impact with COVID Response Grants

Southwest Washington Accountable Communities for Health (SWACH) provided non-profit partners with funding to be used for their COVID response efforts. Over the last several months, more than $200,000 has been distributed to 14 organizations. These  organizations have been using the COVID emergency funding in useful and creative ways.

SWACH has played a very important role in connecting us to other part of health care community by sharing our successes and challenges.

Here are a few highlights:

• Rose Urgent Care and Family Practice used the funding to build an outdoor structure for drive-through COVID-19 testing. They also purchased additional personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff and patients.

•  Children’s Home Society of Washington used the funds to invest in technology and staff to enable them to provide more of their services online, including parent education and individual therapy.

• The White Salmon Valley Education Foundation has been able to provide additional resources to struggling families of students, including school supplies and basic household supplies, such as detergent and hygiene products.

• The Council for the Homeless has been able to assist more families and individuals who are unhoused, including families that lost jobs as a result of COVID, and elderly who were quite vulnerable to the virus.

• Lifeline Connections was able to immediately fund technology needs, with the help of the funding from SWACH.

• PeaceHealth in partnership with several other community organizations provided no-cost, drive-thru Covid-19 testing for marginalized populations in our communities. Testing was performed in convenient locations and in a manner that reduced concerns of immigration authority intervention.

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Learning and Adapting during COVID-19

“Immediate funding for our technology needs was an absolute game-changer for continuing to provide services. The secondary pandemic, the explosive increase in behavioral health trauma and increase in substance use disorders as a result of COVID-19, is already occurring and will only increase. At Lifeline Connections we expect to see the continued fallout from this pandemic for many years,” said Jeri Mortimore, Fund Development Director, Lifeline Connections.

Children’s Home Society Executive Director Andrew Tucker said the funding has made a huge difference in the services they can provide. “I am thrilled to report that at Children’s Home Society of Washington we continue to serve as many children and families in 2020 as we have in previous years, due to swift action by our entire organization to mobilize virtual services at the onset of the pandemic.

We have adapted all of our services in the region to be provided without in-person interaction, including virtual therapy and parent education, online support groups, and contactless delivery of emergency food baskets.

"We have adapted all of our services in the region to be provided without in-person interaction, including virtual therapy and parent education, online support groups, and contactless delivery of emergency food baskets. Through the pandemic, we have provided an average of over 150 hours of counseling, over 100 food baskets, and 4 through virtual support groups on a weekly basis to members of our community," shares Tucker. 

"It has required a significant shift in mindset and investment of resources to work in this way. Financial support from SWACH has enabled us to continue adapting to the needs of the children and families we serve in our community by investing in technology that makes programs possible and hiring staff to provide direct services. With help from SWACH, we are optimistic that we can support families through the current crisis, and send them successfully on their way to the “new normal” on the other side of COVID-19,” said Tucker.

Changhua Wang, from Rose Medical Groups  said, “Thanks to SWACH emergency funding, we were able to build a new outdoor structure (see picture attached) quickly to accommodate the drive-through COVID testing. This new structure allowed us to protect our patients as well as our staff. We also used the funding to purchase additional PPE for our staff and patients. In times of fighting this pandemic, SWACH has played a very important role in connecting us to other part of health care community by sharing our successes and challenges.”

SWACH continues to partner with these groups and others to help reduce the impact of the pandemic on our most vulnerable community members.