Agencies Receive Grants For Health Improvement

By Rose Ann Pearce

Posted: November 28, 2009 at 4:15 a.m.

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FAYETTEVILLE — The opportunity for Northwest Arkansas residents to become more health conscious just got a booster shot.

Five nonprofit agencies will receive $224,371 in grants from the Blue and You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas. The grants are part of a total of $1.5 million in grants to 33 health improvement programs across the state.

The American Diabetes Association of Bentonville plans to pay for an education programs designed to reach 20,000 children and adults.

Lori Bramlett, Northwest Arkansas office director, said the association has an established outreach program that takes information to health fairs, schools and other events throughout the year.

“Over 35,000 Arkansans are living with diabetes,” Bramlett said.

The association also holds a health seminar annually. A new component at the health seminar was a food program, developed by Wal-Mart.

The Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center in Bentonville has a two-pronged program to provide first-aid training to 400 early childhood education professionals in Northwest Arkansas and 100 professionals in an outreach program in Ashley, Bradley, Chicot, Desha and Drew counties in southeast Arkansas.

“Our goal is to make children safe,” said Teresa Mills, development manager. She said many early childhood centers don’t have teachers who are certified in CPR or first aid.

“Our money will provide disposable materials used in the training,” Mills said. One teacher in southeast Arkansas will be certified in CPR and first aid then will train other teachers.

Nancy Marsh, a nurse on the board of directors for the Madison County Health Coalition, said their money will be used to implement a worksite wellness program at the Con-Agra plant, which employs about 800 workers, and the Huntsville School District with its 200 employees.

The goal is to encourage businesses to allow employees time to exercise during the work day and to promote healthy lifestyles. A healthy work force has increased productivity with fewer sick days, Marsh said.

Now open 34 hours a week, the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center in Fayetteville wants to expand to 40 hours a week, said Monika Fischer-Massie, director of the center.

The grant will be used to pay for those additional hours, probably on Monday when the clinic is only open a half day.

The clinic operates on a $439,000 annual budget. The cost to be open each day is around $2,400, or about $12,000 a week, Fischer-Massie said.

Northwest Arkansas Women’s Resources plans to use its grant to pay for testing, lab processing and treatments of two sexually transmitted diseases for 500 at-risk women in Benton and Washington counties, according to the foundation news release announcing the grants. This is in addition to the testing the agency already does.

The Blue and You Foundation was founded in 2001 as a charitable foundation to promote better health in Arkansas. More than $10 million has been awarded to 162 health improvement programs, according to Patrick O’Sullivan, executive director.

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