Palm Health Foundation's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Palm Health Foundation • April 6, 2020

Palm Health Foundation is leveraging our role as collaborator, convener and leader of innovative solutions for better health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation is working with local partners to organize relief and response efforts for our community. Our work is ongoing; this page will be updated as we continue to provide assistance to our neighbors.

Establishing the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund at Palm Health Foundation

Our lives have all been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but some of us are struggling much more than others in this “new normal.” Those of us who are still able to keep our jobs, pay our bills, access food and shelter safely at home, might be wondering what we can do to help those who don’t have these securities -- without putting ourselves, or the community, at risk.

Palm Health Foundation has established The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund to help our neighbors in need, in exactly the way they need it. This fund will put small grants directly in the hands of Palm Beach County residents so they can recover, rebuild and plan for the future.

For every dollar you contribute to the fund, Palm Health Foundation will match it. That means that for every dollar you donate, two dollars will go into the hands of residents in need.

Click Here to Donate to The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund

Ricky Petty, Healthier Boynton Beach project director, and the Tomlin Family, recipients of a vehicle donation through The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund at Palm Health Foundation

Click to READ MORE about The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund at Palm Health Foundation.

Thank you to those who have donated to The Neighbors Helping Neighbors Fund at Palm Health Foundation:

Anonymous

Stacey Amodio

Ellen Andel

Kirk Bell

Seth Bernstein

Katrina Blackmon

Denise Bober

Suzanne Brenner

Carrie Browne

Lillian Castellano

Castle Wealth Management

Julie F. Cummings

Donna Davis

Bill DelGrosso

Margaret Donnelley

Kirk and Paula Dorhout

Susan Feldman

Marsha Fishbane

Frances and Jeffrey Fisher

Abby and Chad Goodwin

Linda LaRocca-Green

Kenneth and Summer Groves

Julia Harris-Smith

Barbara James

Philippe Jeck

Phyllis Jepson

Janice Johnson

Christina Kramer

Jessie Lavelanet

Dr. Daniel Lichtstein

Anthony Lofaso

Sandra Mari

Cathy Marshall

Milton Martyny

Pat and Ana McNamara

Carmen Palacios

Chrissie and Scott Perron

Greg and Julie Quattlebaum

Pascale Reid

Barbara Richardson

Mark Rubenstein

Philip Reagan

Paul and Ruth Schwarzkopf

Andrea Stephenson-Royster

Lynn Strayer

Marilynn Seits

Ilene Solomon Silber and Louis Silber

Mark Stein

Marge Sullivan

The David & Sondra Mack Foundation, Inc.

David and Shawn Wisehaupt

Ramona Young

Zaloom Foundation

Palm Health Foundation is utilizing our Healthier Together networks to identify and assist our neighbors in need. If you are in need of immediate assistance, please view a list of local resources here: https://211palmbeach.org/coronavirus

Supporting United Way of Palm Beach County's COVID-19 Response Fund

Palm Health Foundation is supporting United Way of Palm Beach County's COVID-19 Response Fund, established to help our neighbors with food and financial assistance, through a generous grant provided by Alice and Chris Holbrook, advisors to The Alice Busch Gronewaldt Foundation Fund at Palm Health Foundation.

Activating a Health Equity Network Response

Palm Health Foundation believes that the pervasive nature of this pandemic calls for both traditional crisis response and more adaptive mechanisms. The foundation's Healthier Together community-based networks and BeWellPBC’s county-wide networks are driving virtual connections and outreach to ensure residents have a voice and a role in developing solutions that are responsive to their needs.

Connecting Neighbors and Collecting Stories

Through tools like Facebook Live and Zoom, the Healthier Together communities and BeWellPBC are linking people to one another—particularly those with the greatest health disparities—to cultivate social connectedness and counteract stress, social isolation and concern about the future. Click here to read more about these efforts.

Palm Health Foundation is inviting residents to share their experiences during this time of uncertainty through SenseMaker, an online storytelling collection tool. Feedback is anonymous and will be analyzed to inform how Palm Health Foundation and BeWellPBC will provide future assistance to the community.

Click here to share your story.

Solving "Last Mile" Issues and Addressing Brain Health

In partnership with the Hunger Relief Coalition, Palm Health Foundation's Healthier Together communities are helping to solve "last mile" issues in food distribution for their most vulnerable neighbors.

The foundation is also working with several partners to address the growing brain health needs of our residents, given the stress produced by the pandemic. Palm Health Foundation is exploring opportunities for making significant systemic improvements on our community's behavioral health safety net, including advances in telehealth and the implementation of an integrated network solution.

Extending the Let's Move Physical Activity Challenge

Palm Health Foundation has extended the month-long Let's Move: Commit to Change Physical Activity Challenge beyond its original end date of March 31, 2020 to emphasize the importance of exercise for good physical and mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak. The foundation encourages Palm Beach County residents to set a goal of at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, every day and to log minutes on the Let's Move website: www.LetsMovePBC.org.

Click here to read more about the extension of the Let's Move challenge.

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Aspen Institute spotlighted BeWellPBC , a Palm Beach County behavioral health movement supported by Palm Health Foundation, and their Community Connectors , a group of advocates that help improve the health and wellbeing of their neighborhoods by serving as a bridge between residents and private and public health services. These Community Connectors are deeply trusted and have helped their communities navigate complex health challenges – like when one neighbor didn’t know what to do when her husband was admitted to a nursing home as his dementia worsened.

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Palm Health Foundation proudly supports paid practicum experiences for FAU’s Sandler School of Social Work MSW students. Through this support, we’re removing financial barriers to education and growing a capable behavioral health workforce in our community. One of FAU’s outstanding MSW students, Amy Ferguson, was placed with the Palm Health Foundation team for her learning, and provided a reflection on her experience:

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