16
December
2014
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16:13 PM
America/Chicago

Media Advisory: Unprecedented Federal Grant to Benefit Webb County and South Texas presented to MHM

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Check Presentation Marks Official Launch of Collaborative Project

San Antonio, Texas—Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. (MHM) the largest private, faith-based funding source for healthcare services in South Texas, will be presented with a ceremonial check for an unprecedented federal investment from The Social Innovation Fund by U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar during a special press conference in Laredo, Texas at First United Methodist Church.

The $10 million investment by The Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a key White House initiative and program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) will support MHM's 'Sí Texas: Social Innovation for a Healthy South Texas' Project. The grant to MHM marks the first time SIF has selected a faith-based organization to receive funding since its inception, and is one of the largest grants made to the seven organizations selected to receive funding in 2014.

The objective of the Sí Texas Project is to stimulate improvements in behavioral health and chronic disease in South Texas, and to highlight integrated behavioral health models that are effectively improving health outcomes in communities with high rates of poverty, depression, diabetes, obesity and associated risk factors. The Sí Texas Project wuill target 12 counties that span the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas—to include Webb County—and involves grants made available to local agencies ranging from $250,000 to $2 million through an open, competitive application process.

WHO:

  • Bishop James E. Dorff, Southwest Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church
  • Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-28), U.S. House of Representatives
  • Ray M. Keck III, President, Texas A&M International University
  • Kevin C. Moriarty, President & CEO, Methodist Healthcare Ministries
  • Sister Maria Luisa Vera, Mercy Ministries of Laredo

WHEN:

  • Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 11:30 a.m.

WHERE:

  • First United Methodist Church (1220 McClelland Avenue, 78040)

All speakers will be available for interviews immediately following the announcement. To schedule an interview with MHM please contact MHM Communications Director, Jessica Munoz-Sherfey at jsherfey@mhm.org or (210) 776-4525.