The concept and composition of the tithing and Community Benefit Policy has not significantly changed since the original learning history was written. Additionally, the Community Health Action Group (CHAG), with the exception of a few staff changes, plays the same role as the review and approval body for requests made for funding through the Community Benefit Fund. What has changed are the types of partnerships and levels of funding that the CHAG approves. There are approximately nineteen (19) new projects funded and a few have either been completed or are no longer funded through Memorial Hospital’s Community Benefit Fund.

According to Mark Chambers, Memorial Hospital & Foundation Vice President, "There has been a shift to partnerships with organizations that understand and are interested in capacity building. These organizations have already established a successful track record within the community." This shift has occurred for several reasons including: the successful track record established by these partners; a greater potential to build capacity and attract other funders; the ability for a greater number of recipients to be served; a "bigger bang for the buck" for Memorial; and, the fact that there is less of a threat that the organization will fold. A large percentage of tithing funding is going to these bigger and more established organizations. This is a direct result of, another one of the changes, the shrinking funds available to the Community Benefit Fund. This is an outcome of the current environment in which the hospital finds itself with reimbursements declining and margins diminishing.

The decrease in the amount of dollars available is likely to impact the number of projects funded in the future; and, the level of scrutiny of existing project will increase substantially. The evaluation component has been a consistent source of anguish for CHAG members. These Community Health Initiatives or projects use both quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate their effectiveness. The CHAG has struggled with how much value or evaluative emphasis to place on the results (outcomes) of a particular project. Many of the projects’ analysis is strongly based on qualitative data. This has made it difficult in deciding the fate of many of the projects.

In the next year, CHAG will have several options to consider because of the decrease in available dollars. With diminishing resources they will have to consider whether to fund fewer projects at the same level of support; or whether to take on additional projects but cut the amount of funding that each project will receive. This is an extremely important decision and will impact the futures of many of the Community Health Initiatives.

Here is a comprehensive list of projects that have been funded throughout the lifetime of the Community Benefit Fund. Some of these programs have been completed, some have been dropped, and others have been redefined.

Southeast Christian Learning Center Project:

This collaborative project between local churches and Memorial Hospital provides child care services for those families who cannot otherwise afford it.

Rural School Health Project:

A school health intervention within a rural school corporation provides a comprehensive model of health services to children and staff. This project is based on an eight step health policy incorporated into the entire rural school district.

Healthy Babies Project:

An organization led by a coordinating committee of 100 + members representing over 60 community organizations who work as "Partners in Prevention" in preventing needless infant deaths. Healthy Babies is a multi-dimensional project that focuses on early and continuous prenatal care, public awareness and advocacy on maternal and child health issues.

Sex Can Wait:

A program that gives both teens and parents the skills they need to communicate more effectively about sex. Sex Can Wait program is based on the Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) curriculum developed by Marion Howard, Ph.D., of Emory University. It has been used effectively in Atlanta and other major cities for more than a decade. This innovative program is currently being implemented as a collaborative project in all the South Bend Community School Corporation middle schools. The outcome of this initiative dramatically helps reduce teen pregnancy..

Beds and Britches Etc.:

B.A.B.E. is a "store" offering new and used clothing for babies and young children up to 4T, as well as baby equipment - from cribs and car seats to diapers and dolls. Merchandise can be obtained through coupons (distributed by local collaborating agencies) or by trading up to 5 usable items. Any parent who needs help getting items for children and follows through with the services provided by participating agencies may shop at the B.A.B.E. store.

Lead Screening:

A collaborative effort with the St. Joseph County Health Department to provide state-of-the-art lead-detection equipment. This equipment gives the health department the tools necessary to find sources of lead poisoning faster and intervene sooner in getting the abatement process underway.

Immunizations:

A collaborative project of local health care providers to immunize every child born in St. Joseph County by age 2. All four hospitals in the county are participating. Other providers are making their clinics available, and several churches, township offices and community centers have opened their doors for the immunization clinics.

Women In Touch:

Women In Touch (WIT) is a community-based organization of volunteers committed to raising awareness about breast cancer among African-American women. Women In Touch provides breast cancer education and training, including breast self examination, and free screening and diagnostic mammograms to an underserved population of African-American women.

Congregational Nursing Program:

A partnership between Memorial Hospital, a nurse and a faith community or congregation. Congregational nurses embrace a philosophy that expands the definition of health to include not only the physical, but also the psychological, social and spiritual aspects of an individual’s well-being.

Community Prosecution Project:

The St. Joseph County’s Community Oriented Prosecution Program seeks to reduce crime and improve quality of life within its neighborhoods. To reach this goal, the Prosecutor’s Office has formed working partnerships with law enforcement agencies, neighborhood associations, public, private and community organizations and individual volunteers to develop pro-active strategies for reducing crime, improving neighborhoods, and identifying and developing opportunities for individuals at risk of criminal involvement.

Riley Wellness 2000 Project:

The Riley High School Wellness Project will provide a comprehensive program that seeks to improve and promote lifelong healthy lifestyles for students, faculty, staff and community. The project includes the following: a wellness curriculum for high school; health risks appraisals; collaborations with community organizations (health care associations, United Way agencies); development of partnerships with Memorial Hospital, South Bend Parks and Recreation Department, American Red Cross, CONNECT, Boys and Girls Club and Local colleges and universities; in-school sports medicine through collaboration with family practice residency programs and athletic trainers and residents; access to health care professionals; maximal utilization and management of new Riley facilities (gym, pool, track, equipment); and, Riley facilities considered a "community asset."

Maple City Health Center’s Community Health Development Project:

The Maple City Health Center’s (MCHCC) Community Development works within neighborhoods as a health center that goes beyond curative care to focus on the promotion of well-being. By using an asset-based approach to community development MCHCC hired a full-time community health developer to work on implementing this approach to well-being through the following: building small groups or neighborhood associations using the gifts/strengths approach in order to encourage the growth of a healthier community; coordinate the implementation of neighborhood activities with other local agencies in an effort to maximize the use of scarce resources; facilitate staff’s evaluation of the center’s current activities to determine how they can be refocused to further the vision of community well-being; link other staff members to community activities which provide opportunities for them to share their gifts and strengths; and, coordinate the evaluation of the experimental phase.

Junior League of South Bend’s Marrow For Tomorrow, LifeDrive 2000 Project

The Marrow For Tomorrow project provides the volunteers necessary to coordinate individual marrow drives at local businesses, universities and hospitals as well as administer pre-screening medical questionnaires and consents to willing participants. The Junior League of South Bend also coordinated and planned a kick-off event to bring attention to the initiative and increase public awareness and support. A desk to facilitate ongoing screening was also staffed by Junior League volunteers three days a week at the South Bend Medical Foundation.

Amish Dental Intervention Project:

This project provides a self-sustained dental facility, in place and maintained by the Amish, to provide dental care to financially disadvantaged members of the Amish community. The project seeks to achieve an optimally fluoridated community. The project will develop, in conjunction with the Oral Health Research Institute, a non-systemic oral fluoride rinse program for the Amish schools. The project will increase awareness among Amish community members of oral health and disease.

The Genesis Program: A New Beginning:

A project of Family & Children’s Service/Turning Point, The Genesis Program is a collaboration with the South Bend Center for the Homeless and Memorial Hospital. The program’s mission is congruent with Family & Children’s Service/Turning Point’s, "to promote human dignity by strengthening individuals and families through counseling, education and support." The project provides individual, group and family therapy, life skills classes, parenting therapy, parenting groups, children’s physical, sexual and emotional abuse specialized treatment, specialized children’s play club and teen street program for children. In addition, specialized adult male programming including experiential wholistic character building classes, classes on developing attitudes of integrity, responsibility, values clarification, and developing a good work ethic.

Community of Caring of St. Joseph County:

The Community of Caring makes linkages between congregations and other community organizations that may be aware of families in need of respite care who might not otherwise be identified, and match these families to volunteers wanting to offer assistance.

Artisans Art Center Project:

The Artisans Art Project is a three-year project to develop a method for making art counseling for those who suffer from mental illness and substance abuse through treatment facilities. The model uses immersion in the art-making process as a way for participants to become aware of their feelings and the way they sense and interpret themselves in the world. Partners include the State of Indiana Department of Corrections Work Release program and Life Treatment Center.

The Lung Center:

The Lung Center was established by the American Lung Association in Indiana, Memorial Health System, and St. Joseph’s Medical Center. The focus of the Center has been designed to provide education on various lung diseases and the self care. The program has been designed to meet diverse educational levels to advance into a bi-lingual program.

Healing Touch Energy Therapy Study:

Healing Touch research Study Team, under the auspices of the Memorial Center for Integrative Healing is conducting a research study on the effectiveness of Healing Touch. The primary purpose and expected benefits of the study are to: determine the effectiveness of Healing Touch energy therapy; stimulate healthy outcomes for the patients receiving the therapy; contribute to the field of knowledge about complementary and alternative treatments; and provide information and advocacy regarding the effectiveness of Healing Touch energy therapy to the local community.

African American Community Fund:

This initiative will lead to the creation of a $500,000 endowment for the African American community by an African American grants committee according to its own guidelines and process administered under the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County’s auspices. Memorial’s commitment of $50,000 will be matched by the Lilly Endowment and will be an essential part of the matching incentive offered to the African American community.

The Hairnet Project:

The Hairnet Project is an initiative which will make Internet access possible and attractive by putting computers and the information superhighway directly in people’s traffic pattern. Computers linked to the Internet will be placed in African American beauty shops where men and women congregate for hours at a time waiting for their hair to be done. The primary purpose of the project is to reduce the "digital divide" in our community. The project will: introduce technology to those who have not used it; provide computer, Internet and E-mail access in low-income areas; connect people with information and local resources; increase civic involvement; and, provide initial rung on career ladder for community trainers.

Family Practice Residency Clinic’s Pharmacy Project:

The Family Practice Clinic’s Pharmacy Project will enable the Clinic to compensate the Memorial Family Practice Pharmacy for prescriptions for selected patients that cannot afford their lifesaving medications. Patients meet strict financial qualifications to be eligible for the program. To track the progress of patients and potential benefit of this program the Clinic keeps computerized records of the patients enroled in the program and costs of their prescriptions.

IUSB Joint Center for the Study of Population Health:

The mission of the Center is to establish a working partnership between SPEA at IUSB and Memorial Hospital for the purpose of developing and implementing a strategy for improving the health status for the community at-large. The Center’s goal include the following: to develop and undertake research aimed at defining and analyzing the demographic and behavioral characteristics of different populations; to assist Memorial and other entities in using these data and the conclusions drawn from them to design an effective strategy for population health management; to publish and in other appropriate ways disseminate information on the demographic and behavioral characteristics of different populations; to sponsor and/or facilitate various education projects and programs aimed at implementing different population health management strategies; and, to develop joint ventures with other community organizations and agencies that enhance the mission of the Center and expand its capacity to gather data and disseminate information.

Michigan City Open Door Clinic’s Adolescent Health Initiative:

The Michigan City Open Door Clinic’s developed a collaborative effort toward meeting the special health care needs of the students at the Alternative High School, who are low income and have limited access to basic health care services. The clinic provides health assessments, treatment, health education, mental health services, substance abuse prevention and education programs, violence prevention and family care coordination.

Home Management Services, Inc. :

Home Management Services expands its program and classes to reach greater numbers of people throughout the region. Memorial partners with Home Management Services as a means for linking them with appropriate partners and other communities (where Memorial has a presence).

South Bend Heritage Foundation’s Partnership for Community Transformation:

South Bend Heritage Foundation and Memorial Hospital have developed a working partnership which will advance a wide range of community development activities throughout South Bend with a primary emphasis on our communities 22 low income census tracts. The partnership is focused around specific improvement initiatives in a manner that reinforces values and builds social and human capital.

The Center for the Homeless’s Landscape Services Project:

CFH Landscape Services business is a commercial landscape enterprise to provide complete landscape design, maintenance and installation to customers in St. Joseph County. The business partnership’s purpose is to provide exceptional landscape services to public and private customers; train, employ and support persons transitioning beyond homelessness; prove to the homeless population and the nation-at-large that in a structured and supportive work environment homeless persons are capable of doing outstanding work; and, create a revenue source to fund the Center’s programming.

The Center for the Homeless’s Health Care Delivery Project:

CFH, in partnership with Memorial Hospital, provides the Center’s guests with on-site medical care, health education and social assessment and care coordination services.