Baptist foundation puts $8.8M to health needs

Money will help clinics and other nonprofits to care for those in need.

The Georgia Baptist Healthcare Ministry Foundation has awarded more than $8.84 million to clinics and other nonprofits that provide health care services, mostly to underserved and indigent residents across the state.

The 2023 grant cycle represent is the largest amount given by the foundation since it began distributing grants in 2005.

“We carry out this ministry in order to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people who need healthcare and who would otherwise not be able to afford it,” said GBHCMF Executive Director Larry Wynn.

He said many, though not all, of the recipients had their beginnings in the church community and the overwhelming majority are on-the-ground nonprofits and clinics in Georgia.

“We felt that we can care for the spiritual needs of people as well as the physical,” said Wynn, the former pastor of a Baptist church in Dracula.

The foundation is a supporting organization that primarily provides financial support to the health care ministry of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and assists communities and nonprofits with health care-related programs, according to its website.

Since the foundation began its ministry in 2005, it has awarded $65.95 million in 842 grants for hands-on, nonprofit health care in Georgia, according to a release about the awards.

The funds are generated from the sales of operations and properties from the Georgia Baptist Healthcare System. One of the properties sold was what later became the Atlanta Medical Center.

Grants for 2023 ranged from $9,100 to more than $2 million.

Grants of $2 million went to the Baptist Convention, doing business as the Georgia Baptist Mission Board for health and wellness initiatives, and $700,000 to the mission board for the retiree health care program.

Other recipients include The J.O.Y. ( Jesus, Others and Yourself ) Health Clinics, which received $50,000; the Atlanta Morning Center, $100,000; and Black Women’s Wellness, which received $60,000.

“The needs are great and in our area, being rural, there’s a lot of people that work and don’t make a lot of money,” said Rita Green, a registered nurse and executive director of the faith-based J.O.Y. Health Clinics in Dublin. The clinic, which provides a variety of health-related services, was started in 2012 by local physicians and pastors and the Laurens Baptist Association, according to its website.

She said clients have to look at paying rent or a mortgage and car expenses and may have several children. Many don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid.

“Those things (expenses) take the place of being able to afford insurance. It’s sad,” Green said.