Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
eHana is pleased to announce that twelve community-based organizations have been selected to receive grant funding through eHana’s Giving Program. Each grant recipient will receive $2,000 in funding to help enhance their Health Information Technology (HIT) and telehealth capacity and infrastructure.
“We’re excited to be able to provide this support to each of these important providers,” said Jacob Buckley-Fortin, eHana CEO and Co-Founder. “eHana believes strongly in the transformational capabilities of health information technology for community-based organizations, especially in these challenging times.”
Daurice Cox, President & CEO of Bay State Community Services, acknowledged the importance of technology funds in this uncertain time. “This funding will enable us to serve the youth living in our adolescent group homes and homeless shelters during this unprecedented time of COVID-19. We are so grateful for eHana’s leadership, partnership and generous support of BSCS and our mission,” she said.
Kim Lee, Vice President of Resource Development and Branding of Mental Health Association, responded to the award: “We are thankful and humbled by eHana’s faith in our work and their willingness to support our efforts to ensure access to needed emotional health and wellness is uninterrupted during these turbulent times.”
The following organizations have been selected to receive grant funding this year from eHana:
BAMSI plans to use funding to license telehealth technology, as well as to purchase webcams, headsets, and computers for use throughout BAMSI’s clincal programs and 78 group homes.
Bay State Community Services will issue company-owned cell phones and laptops to staff serving adolescent group homes and homeless shelters.
Bridgewell plans to purchase iPads for programs to be used for remote intake and assessment throughout its 100+ programs.
Doctor Franklin Perkins School will license digital signature technology for use across at least seven divisions (Quality and Performance Improvement, Residential, Education, Adults, Behavioral Health, HR, and Finance).
Doc Wayne Youth Services will license telehealth technology to support its unique sports-driven mental health programs, with coaches providing individual sessions to clients virtually.
Family Continuity Programs plans to fund infrastructure to support emergency access to telehealth and other remote services to the 10,000 children, families, and individuals they serve.
Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts will focus on core technology needs for its refugee resettlement program in order to move staff from office-based desktop computers to mobile work-from-home arrangements.
Mental Health Association plans to use funds to support its existing TeleWell telehealth program via their BestLife outpatient behavioral health center for emotional wellness, connecting clients with clinicians, psychiatrists, and therapies for continued health and mental wellness.
Old Colony YMCA will support data-driven decision making and development of targeted interventions via improvements in technology and staff training in order to better support its large 31-town service area.
Open Sky Community Services will focus funding on implementing a telehealth transition for its clinical programs and 62 group living residences, including outpatient psychiatry, primary care, urgent care appointments, nursing, occupational therapy, outreach counseling, peer coaching, recovery coaching, housing assistance, and other supports.
ServiceNet will purchase iPads to help facilitate the expansion of its existing outpatient-based telehealth program to residents of its 75 group homes.
Victory Programs will use funds to invest in laptops, desktops, wifi, webcams, and other technology to enable staff to support clients’ shelter, sustenance, recovery, and care needs while practicing safe distancing.
The schedule for the eHana Giving Program was accelerated in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, doubling awards available and accelerating the disbursement schedule. “It made sense to award the grants as quickly as possible, and to support as many organizations as we possibly could,” said Buckley-Fortin. “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the use of telehealth especially, which can require specialized hardware and internet connectivity upgrades. Our hope is that this funding will enable organizations to adapt to the changed world we’ve been thrust into and build new, sustainable, models of care.”