MMS and Alliance Charitable Foundation: 2003-2004 Grants

Download a one-page summary of 2003-2004 grants (.pdf, 22k)

Community Action Grants

The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship -  $25,000
Grant to support the Boston Schweitzer Fellows Program, one of seven such programs in the U.S. The Fellows Program supports students in medicine and other health professions who are engaged in community service projects that promote health and improve access to health care for underserved populations.

2004-2005 Boston Schweitzer Fellows Projects (Word, 40kb)
2004-2005 Boston Schweitzer Fellows Gallery (.pdf, 182kb)

(Requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader )

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center -  $20,000
Grant to support its Medical Advocacy Program, which provides hospital accompaniment, immediate health information, and emotional support to recent survivors of sexual assault. Established 27 years ago, BARCC serves some 8,500 women, men, and children annually throughout Greater Boston. The agency serves populations who speak English, Spanish, French, and Haitian/Creole.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters -  $15,000 
Grant for basic medical care, education, and prevention services in the agency’s Bridge Healthcare Program, which includes its Mobile Medical Van, Free Dental Clinic, and In-House Medical Clinic. Founded in 1970, Bridge serves 4,000 homeless, runaway and troubled youths each year with education and career development, substance abuse counseling, residential and day programs, and medical services.

Homelessness Prevention Initiative -  $50,000 
$50,000 to focus on the mental health-related needs of one specific target population: mothers and their children who are at risk of becoming homeless. In collaboration with The Boston Foundation and Tufts Health Plan $1 million was awarded to eighteen agencies with programs targeting those in need of direct assistance and stabilization; discharge planning and placement for those being released from care and custody; supportive housing services; mental health support; and substance abuse counseling. The Initiative will bring together organizations providing a diverse range of programs to share best practices and recommendations, with a goal of advancing knowledge of what works in the area of prevention, providing outcome data and proven models on how to prevent homelessness.

Mujeres Unidas en Accion -  $5,000 
Grant to support its domestic violence education program. The grant will provide workshops on domestic violence issues and individual and group counseling to clients. MUA’s mission is to provide a means for Latina women with limited education or English language skills to effect social and political changes in their families, communities, and in society.

Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger - $16,500 
Grant for its Pediatric Hunger Prevention Project, which addresses hunger in a community health care setting. The project will train pediatricians to identify families at risk for hunger and help them access emergency and long-term food resources. This project aims to demonstrate that hunger prevention can lead to improved health outcomes for children in low-income families.

Care for the Medically Underserved Grants

Women of Means - $20,000 
Grant to support program expansion. The program utilizes volunteer physicians to provide free medical care at shelters and community settings to an ethnically diverse population of battered and homeless women and families in Boston. Volunteer physicians are educated, trained, and oriented to the physical, medical and cultural world of the homeless.

Free Health Care Center Fund - $30,000 
$30,000 to establish Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires - a free clinic to provide medical, dental, and mental health services to the income-qualified uninsured of the southern Berkshire region. The region has an estimated 10,000 low-income adults who have no health insurance coverage. 

International Health Studies Grants

Heather A. Brandling-Bennett - $750
University of Cape Town
CapeTown, South Africa

Jennifer Howland, MPH - $750
Ministry of Health
Bunda District, Tanzania

Jessica L. Outwater, MD - $750
Belize International Health Program
Punta Gorda, Belize 

Mai Tuyet Pho - $750
Ho Chi Minh Medical School
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 

For more information on the Foundation and its activities, visit www.mmsfoundation.org or contact Jennifer Day, Manager of Development and Community Programs, at (781) 434-7044.