Analysis shows effectiveness of OneOhio grant funding
A new mobile health unit made possible by OneOhio Recovery Foundation Grant Funding
From Gongwer:
“Grants funded through the OneOhio Recovery Foundation are making a difference in local communities based on evaluation and implementation science, the board was told Wednesday.
Gretchen Hammond, CEO of Mighty Crow, said her company's analysis illustrates the success rate of the foundation's awards. "We knew that the task would be trying to figure out a cohesive way to think through how to tell the story of how the dollars were being utilized," she said.
The main aspects Hammond considers when evaluating a project are scope and coverage, management, quality and transparency. "We aligned ourselves with the values of the OneOhio Recovery Foundation in terms of your commitment to transparency and your commitment to accountability. Those are very germane to the work that we do as well," Hammond continued.
Hammond said data demonstrates how the foundation's grant funding is improving local communities.
While there were some difficulties with grant recipients reporting on their use of funds, Hammond said her team was able to help each of the 245 grantees submit their reports. "Some of our bigger institutions are the ones who really, really struggle with reporting, not our smaller grantees," she said. "Our government entities, hospitals and universities seem to have struggled more so than some of our nonprofit organizations."
One of the organizations that has seen success through the foundation funded grants was the Greene County Health Department. Kaci Warren, an educator with the department, told the board that during the first grant cycle, the agency was awarded $329,000 over 36 months for a project to expand its harm reduction services.
Warren said the grant was used to purchase a mobile health unit to increase care available to Clinton County and harm reduction services throughout Greene County. "Through this Mobile Health Unit, we provide HIV, Hep C and syphilis testing, as well as naloxone distribution and other harm reduction services like fentanyl test strips," Warren said.
Some of the other services provided through this investment, Warren mentioned, were access to treatment and recovery resources, wound care supplies and hygiene items. She also said the mobile unit has been especially utilized by individuals who cannot attend normal hours between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. by providing them with an evening slot. "We actually are [providing service] in an evening time slot to make sure that we're opening the opportunity up for people who may not be able to make it," she said.
She also discussed how the mobile unit has aided in community outreach through events and what future expansion may look like. "We're hoping to get some of our reserve corps, Medical Reserve Corps participants on the mobile unit to hopefully do just simple screenings, like blood pressure," Warren said. "That's something that I'm looking forward to expanding on down the line."
