Posts from — November 2009

Today was a great day in the neighborhood as Pittsburgh dedicated the Mr. Rogers statue….I made it a point to attend and found myself a bit misty-eyed.  Sometime very soon, do make it a point to visit the statue….spectacular!

As the chorus of “Won’t you be my neighbor?” echoed from the statue and over the Ohio river, I found myself hoping that this newest edition to the North Shore and to our city will cause us each to determine exactly what we mean by neighbor.

Yes, we Pittsburghers take great pride in claiming Mr. Rogers as one of us  and we boast about our neighborhoods, yet are we still doing our part  and exercising our “response-ability” (spelling intentional..think about it) to make sure every community can remain viable? Are we actively advocating for and working to provide the resources, rights, and respect so each one can have an honest choice to live in the neighborhoods and communities of  one’s choosing?

Mayview, Braddock, budget cuts, programs lost, higher walls and smaller screens to distance ourselves one from another…..never before have we needed this tangible reminder that, yes, we are each neighbors and to quote the poet W.H Auden, “We must love one another or perish.”

CHIPRA Funding Press Release
September 30, 2009.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SEBELIUS AWARDS $299,750 TO
THE CONSUMER HEALTH COALITION
TO FIND, ENROLL KIDS IN CHIP, MEDICAID

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $40 million in grants to 69 grantees in 41 states and the District of Columbia to help them find and enroll children who are uninsured but eligible for either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

As part of today’s grant release, $299,750 will go to the Consumer Health Coalition (CHC).  CHC will partner with the Birth Circle and the Squirrel Hill Health Center to identify and help enroll uninsured children in Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid.  “The Consumer Health Coalition has a long history of assisting parents’ with accessing insurance coverage for their children.  This award strengthens our ability to reach more families, especially those in rural areas,” said Beth Heeb, Executive Director of CHC.

“Today’s awards will help fulfill President Obama’s pledge to assure the health and well-being of our nation’s children,” said Secretary Sebelius.  “With millions of Americans either out of work or otherwise struggling to make ends meet during this recession, there is an even greater urgency to bring steady, reliable health care to children in these families who may have lost their coverage.”

Recognizing that millions of children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, but are therefore needlessly uninsured, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) set aside $100 million for fiscal years 2009-2013 expressly to help find and enroll eligible children.  Of the total outreach amount, $80 million will be given to states and other organizations, $10 million to Tribal organizations and $10 million for a national outreach effort. Today’s awards are for a two year period ending December 31, 2011 which will be then be followed by a second round of $40 million in new grants.

As called for in CHIPRA, grants were awarded to applicants whose outreach, enrollment and retention efforts will target geographic areas with high rates of eligible but uninsured children, particularly those with racial and ethnic minority groups who are uninsured at higher-than-average rates.  For example, 20 percent of the projects to be funded will target Hispanic children, with an emphasis on Hispanic teens, and 11 percent will focus on homeless children and seven percent will be aimed at Native American/Alaska Native children.

The vast majority of grantees will be using multiple, community-based and ethnically sensitive approaches. One grantee in Missouri, for example, will work with a consortium of 35 churches in low-income, minority communities.  Those parishioners will go door-to-door to locate potentially eligible children and then help those families apply for CHIP or Medicaid coverage.  Another grantee will place self-service kiosks in community centers and Native American Chapter Houses (community halls) where there will also be staff available to help with applications if needed.  One state school system will track children who receive free or reduced cost lunches and, with the families’ permission, share that information with state health programs, which will, in turn, mail applications for CHIP and Medicaid to those families.  The state will also provide one-on-one-assistance with those applications.

The grant awards require that recipients be able to show actual increases in enrollment and retention of children already in the programs.  Both CHIP and Medicaid state agencies are to report to CMS the number of new enrollees and those who retained coverage that are directly attributable to the grant activities.  Grantees are also to report activities they believe were the most effective in finding, enrolling and maintaining children in these benefit programs.

“No child in America should go without decent healthcare,” said Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations—the group within the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services that will administer the grants. “With the funds we are awarding today we hope to reduce the number of children who do.”

The march of time often leaves in its wake abandoned buildings….churches whose membership no longer warrants massive buildings and empty stores no longer financial viable.  This reality brings with it a key question: What to do with the buildings?

The announced closing of the UPMC  Braddock Hospital creates critical questions demanding serious answers because of the impact of the closing. Along with the local YMCA, the hospital houses the only ATM and the only restaurant in Braddock.

Perhaps the most important question needing answered is how to best utilize the building to the most benefit for Braddock?

Just as an important an inquiry is what is the responsibility and what should be expected and delivered by UPMC in light of this closure?

Unhealthy America
Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, November 4, 2009.

I admit it…..in my core, I’m small town.  I was born and raised in Freeport, one of the many river towns that mark the region. In many ways, it remains a town worthy of a Rockwell painting. 

 We have the essentials for community: a strong school district (Go Yellowjackets!); a grocery store; police and fire departments; places of worship;  adequate housing; a shared history; parks and playgrounds; annual community festivals;  local doctor and dentist offices; and a hospital that has been there for generations. 

What makes a community? 

How does a particular neighborhood’s wellness (or lack thereof) impact the health of the entire region?

How do we restore identity to the countless neighborhoods who have never filled the emptiness of closed mills?

Do we have a larger responsibility to revitalize the region’s neighborhoods?

Indeed, what’s in it for us?

Join us in the conversation. 

Ask questions of your own.

Work with us to find the answers.