Heart Smart for Life Program Hosts Non-Profit Organizations to Tackle Cardiovascular Disease Across the Country
AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation Unites Grant Award-Winning Programs Through Mentor-Mentee Learning Forum
Mercy Hospital Foundation co-hosted a Mentor-Mentee Learning Forum with the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation to advance efforts to improve heart health with five other nonprofit organizations facing similar challenges in their communities.
Mercy Hospital Foundation’s Heart Smart for Life program at the Mercy Comprehensive Care Center has helped ensure vulnerable populations at risk in Buffalo have access to nutrition education, free health screenings, wellness programs, and other resources focused on preventing heart disease. The Mercy Hospital Foundation is one of 11 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive a grant from the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM program to help improve heart health through community-based initiatives.
Community-Based Programs in Action
During the Mentor-Mentee Learning Forum, Mercy highlighted their successful program, Heart Smart for Life, to the Foundation’s new Grant Awardees from South Dakota, Mississippi and Illinois and their mentors, repeat Grant Awardees from West Virginia and Michigan.
The program also provided opportunities for Mercy, the mentors and mentees to engage in peer-to-peer learning and workshops led by evaluation and communications experts to help each other enhance and sustain their programs. In addition, they learned how to share their successful approaches for developing and delivering impactful community health programs with other groups across the country.
“Mercy Hospital Foundation was proud to co-host the Mentor-Mentee Learning Forum and show Heart Smart for Life in action with a clinic tour, healthy cooking and chair yoga demonstrations,” Jeanne O’Hara, Program Manager, Heart Smart for Life. “We’re helping to make a difference of the lives Buffalo residents and hope this information is helpful to other organizations who want to do the same in their communities.”
AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular Health
Heart Smart for Life has grown into a national model program and others want to learn from its successes. The Mercy Hospital Foundation was recently awarded an $89,607 grant from the AZHCF’s Connections for Cardiovascular Health program, bringing the total grant support from the AZHCF to over $350,000 since 2017.
Now in its third-year of funding from the AZHCF, the Mercy Hospital Foundation is one of 11 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive a grant to help improve heart health through community-based initiatives.
For more information about the Heart Smart for Life program, visit the website or call (716) 923-6152.
