AWAKE Child Advocacy Center in Sylva is one of 15 nonprofit organizations in North and South Carolina to receive grants totaling $502,480 from the CCME (The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence) Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports healthcare quality improvement in the Carolinas.
AWAKE (Adults Working and Advocating for Kids’ Empowerment) was established in 1993 and is a nonprofit organization focused on advocating for victims of child abuse. AWAKE coordinates services for victims of child abuse in Jackson County, providing a child-friendly environment where the child and their families receive services and support.
“The impact these organizations have within their communities is inspiring, and we are thrilled to support their efforts,” said CCME Foundation Chairman Donald J. DiPette, MD. President and CEO Steven Martin added, “This marks the Foundation’s third year in awarding grants, and it is very rewarding to help fund the many programs that enrich and improve health care in the Carolinas.”
AWAKE has served as a nonprofit in Jackson County for 30 years and is the only child advocacy center in the county. The organization partners with law enforcement, the Department of Social Services, the District Attorney’s Office, mental health agencies, and other organizations to provide non-duplicative services to child victims of abuse.
The $50,000 in grant funds will support the newly established expansion of AWAKE services known as the Child Medical Collaborative, which serves to address the lack of child medical providers in the region, specifically focusing on the need for providers who specialize in treating victims of abuse. Through the collaborative, a network of nurses and doctors who can perform medical exams, which are often crucial in prosecuting cases and assessing the future needs for the child, was established.
The CCME Foundation was established in 2018 and is funded by Constellation Quality Health, formerly CCME, a separate nonprofit organization celebrating its 40th anniversary as a healthcare quality consultancy in the Carolinas. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded $1,032,536 in grants.
The CCME Foundation Board of Directors selected the awardees based on each project’s impact on healthcare improvement and access for individuals and communities, particularly the uninsured and under-served populations. The other 14 grant awardees include:
Compass of Carolina – $30,000 Greenville SC
Providing access to mental health care by removing transportation barriers and providing direct hours of therapeutic services to adults affected by domestic violence.
AIDS Leadership Foothills Area Alliance – $10,000 Hickory NC
Providing sterile drug use supplies, overdose reversal kits, and infection prevention services, testing, and link to care through the Harm Reduction program.
ABCCM Doctors Medical Clinic – $25,330 Asheville NC
Improving navigation and integration of clinical care within a recovery and transitional housing program through Costello House, a new recovery living and transitional housing center, serving men experiencing homelessness.
Hands of Hope Medical Clinic – $45,000 Yadkinville NC
Addressing barriers to medication access and ensuring that individuals can obtain the medications they require for their health and well-being.
Transitions LifeCare – $50,000 Raleigh NC
Supporting the Hispanic Community to Navigate Serious Illness by increasing health literacy, highlighting pathways to care for the local Latino/Hispanic community for people with serious illness, and building the capacity of Transitions LifeCare to provide care for this population from a perspective of cultural humility.
Lions Vision Services – $50,000 Columbia SC
Providing eye surgeries, exams, glasses, and vision technology for the un- and under-insured.
Warrior WOD Foundation – $50,000 Ravenel SC
Addressing gaps in veterans’ mental health care through exercise, nutrition, and mentorship.
Greenville Free Medical Clinic – $50,000 Greenville SC
Expanding the clinic’s Behavioral Health Services.
Community Care for Forsyth County – $50,000 Winston-Salem NC
Adding a bilingual dental hygienist to Dental Health Program.
Carolina Caring – $19,150 Newton NC
Providing technology package for in-house Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Training Program in its second year to recruit and retain quality nursing assistants.
Tender Hearts Ministries – $25,000 York SC
Providing support to uninsured client families needing access to health care, prescriptions, and supplements.
Partners for Active Living – $30,000 Spartanburg SC
Helping to increase fruit and vegetable consumption to decrease chronic disease through the Cooking Up Confidence: Skills in the Everyday Kitchen, which introduces participants to the FoodShare program.
EmmanuWheel – $8,000 Lexington SC
Building wheelchair ramps for disadvantaged populations in South Carolina.
Good Shepard Free Medical Clinic – $10,000 Clinton SC
Purchasing generic medications needed to supply the community pharmacy at the Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy and dispensing at no cost, along with diabetic testing supplies, to patients.
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