Organization continues to improve the lives of children in Illinois
Santrice Martin is the COO of Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation. Photo provided by Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation.
Since its founding in 2002, Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation has awarded nearly 800 grants in the amount of $134 million. Heather Higgins Alderman is President and CEO of Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation. She said the reason why the organization focuses on oral and mental health is because those two things are so integral to the overall health and wellbeing of children. Oral and mental health also were found to be where there are the most gaps in funding.
“In order for children to be healthy overall, they need to have good oral health and good mental health. Those things really contribute to a holistic approach to children’s health,” Higgins Alderman said.
This year, 21 organizations were awarded $20,000 in grant money. The goal of the grants it to inspire young people to join the oral and mental health care fields as a way to address the workforce shortage and alleviate the healthcare disparities.
Higgins Alderman said to celebrate the organization’s anniversary, the organizations that received the grant money had a variety of inspiring programs. Those programs included bringing professionals to schools to inspire children to pursue careers in oral and mental health and have children spend time with oral and mental health professionals.
“As we celebrate our 20-year milestone, the Board of Directors, team and funding partners are proud of ILCHF’s success in identifying and funding solutions to the barriers that prevent children from accessing the care they need to thrive, specifically in the areas of oral and mental health,” Higgins Alderman said in a release. “While we are profoundly grateful for the remarkable work and significant progress made by our grantee partners in terms of children’s health, we recognize there is still much work to do. As we head into our third decade, we’re committed to continuing to work with our partners statewide to support the implementation of a comprehensive, holistic system of children’s health care in Illinois and alleviate the disparities.”
Santrice Martin, COO of Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation, said all the grantees had an approach that would inspire or create opportunities for children to be exposed to oral and mental health professions they may not have had access to before. The organizations looked at ways to not only create exposure but also figuring out ways to make an impact for the future, with those young people becoming part of the workforce.
Youth Crossroads is one of the grantees. In its program, young people will have the opportunity to work with a licensed professional and see how being a social worker, school psychologist or community counselor would work.
“I think this foundation is very unique in its approach to create healthier communities across the State of Illinois, starting with young people and understanding that it also has the opportunity to impact families and the entire State,” Martin said, adding that in its 20 years, it has provided $134 million in grants and was started with $125 million, which shows its commitment to its fiduciary responsibilities.
For more information about Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation, visit www.ilchf.org.
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