Brandywine Health Foundation receives $100,000 grant

Funds to focus on ‘Community Voice’ strategic priority

COATESVILLE » The Brandywine Health Foundation (BHF) is pleased to announce that they are the recipients of a $100,000 grant from Philadelphia Foundation’s donor-advised funds. This grant is in support of BHF’s 2020-2022 strategic plan priority, To Lead Positive Community-Driven Change. “We are grateful to Philadelphia Foundation and their donors,” said Vanessa B. Briggs, President & CEO of Brandywine Health Foundation. “Their generosity and passion for community focused work allows us to substantially affect real change, by focusing first on the ideas, opinions and concerns of the community to assure that their voices are at the forefront of plans to advance a more equitable, resilient and healthy Greater Coatesville in Chester County Pennsylvania.”

The Brandywine Health Foundation has always understood the necessity of community input in determining strategic direction and believes that those who have systematically denied community voice now stand at a societal crossroad. They must choose to either take the path of inclusion or continue to follow an exclusionary path that institutionally and structurally supports racial injustice and inequality. The Brandywine Health Foundation is committed to and will always support inclusion and community voice.

Funding from Philadelphia Foundation will help support the following three activities:

Engaging community with diversity, equity, & inclusion trainings

Brandywine Health

Foundation will continue with its highly successful community engagement forum, “Let’s Talk” where safe spaces are created that support compassionate listening and better understanding of racial inequities and its impact on community health. Community Voice will incorporate Let’s Talk: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training which will focus on racial inequalities, personal acknowledgment, historical injustices and healing and reconciliation. The Foundation will engage a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Trainer to facilitate, encourage and support community engagement and authentic conversations among its board, staff, and community at large.

Creating communication tools through community stories

Storytelling is critical in elevating community voice. Grant funds will be used to develop and support a Community Voice Compendium that will capture community stories as told by community residents, in addition to faith and local municipal leaders. A Communication Consultant will work with the Foundation to record and showcase lived experiences and perceptions to increase learning across power and racial dynamics that will ultimately lead to better understanding and equity in the Greater Coatesville community.

Building a community advocacy infrastructure:

To add voice in the decisions to improve living conditions in the Greater Coatesville community, we will build a cadre of community advocates made up of diverse community members and residents, who will work alongside Foundation staff members, board and others. Community Advocates will understand the power of advocacy, the legislative process, and build partnerships to advance policies and systems that improve community health.

“Ultimately, the Community Voice strategy will address the erosion of equality,” added Ms. Briggs. “When foundations, donors, government and institutions align direct investments to address community conditions that lead to poor health, the impact is positive for both the health and financial stability of all community members and the county as a whole.”

The Philadelphia Foundation has a century-long history of connecting community-minded individuals with the people and organizations that are helping to build a Greater Philadelphia Region. The $100,000 grant to Brandywine Health Foundation was awarded from the following funds:

The Oscar H and E. Ida Iucker Memorial Fund;

Ambrose J. Truitt Memorial Fund;

Community Health Fund; Nancy B. McKean Fund; Mildred Gregg Loescher Fund;

Joshua D. and Elizabeth P. Twining Memorial Fund; Harold S. Truitt Fund. For more information about Philadelphia Foundation, visit https://www. philafound.org.

For more information about the Brandywine Health Foundation, visit www. Brandywinefoundation.org.