The Humana Foundation, located in Louisville, Ky., is providing a total of $640,000 to four nonprofit organizations in the Knoxville area to improve the health and well-being of East Tennessee residents.
The Humana Foundation grants will be awarded to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tennessee Valley, Knoxville Academy of Medicine Foundation, Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee and University of Tennessee Extension Institute of Agriculture as part of the Humana Foundation’s 2017 grant cycle.
As the philanthropic arm of Humana Inc., the Humana Foundation seeks to improve community health and well-being, while addressing root causes and barriers that keep people from being their healthiest. Knoxville is a priority for Humana, as the company is committed to making the community 20 percent healthier by 2020 as part of its Bold Goal initiative.
“The Humana Foundation is delighted to support these deserving nonprofits in their efforts to provide resources to help residents achieve their best health,” said Pattie Dale Tye, interim executive director of the Humana Foundation. “We’re confident the programs proposed by these organizations will positively impact the Knoxville community and combat key social determinants such as access to health services, food insecurity, and loneliness and social isolation which can significantly impact an individual’s health.”
The four organizations will use the funding to create new and unique programs that will improve community health:
- Boys & Girls Club of Tennessee Valley : Food for Thought engages youth and teens in growing their own fruits and vegetables, harvesting them to use to prepare healthy meals, and taking food home to share with their families.
- Knoxville Academy of Medicine Foundation : The KAPA Connects program expands the existing KAPA (Knoxville Area Project Access) program that assists patients with navigating and obtaining health services. The expansion will build a community-based system for identifying and addressing barriers to positive health care outcomes for low income, uninsured patients.
- Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee : The Congregate Health and Nutrition Education program increases the number of older adults receiving nutritious meals, health/wellness education, and depression/isolation screening and programming.
- University of Tennessee Extension Institute of Agriculture : Lifestyle Education in Diabetes Care will identify barriers that keep adults from enrolling and participating in diabetes educational programming. Findings will be used to develop diabetes prevention and management programs that improve individuals’ adherence to positive behavior and lifestyle changes for managing diabetes.
“We are so thankful to receive this generous grant from the Humana Foundation, which will help people access the care they need to improve their health,” said Kimberly F. Weaver, CEO and EVP of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine.
“Humana is committed to improving the health and well-being of East Tennessee,” said Humana MidSouth President Douglas Haaland. “These grants from the Humana Foundation to these four outstanding Knoxville organizations will help fund health and wellness programs and resources for our community.”
For information about the Humana Foundation go to HumanaFoundation.org.
