BIPOC Mental Health Grant
Partners in Health and Wholeness is thrilled to announce a new mental health funding opportunity for BIPOC (Black & Brown, Indigenous, People of Color) faith communities.
Thanks to The Duke Endowment, PHW is able to offer this new grant opportunity of $5,000-10,000 for faith communities of color to apply towards COVID-19 mental health efforts. In mid-2022, we plan to award 50 grants in this funding range throughout the entire state. Later this year, there will be an opportunity to apply for a large grant, up to $50,000, to establish or expand a mental health resource hub in your region. This application period for this grant opportunity will be rolling, with quarterly reviews, from May 2022 until May 2023. Learn more here: PHW BIPOC Mental Health Grant Webpage
Addressing Substance Abuse and Addiction
Learn about substance misuse and get assistance for recovery and treatment. We’d love to help your congregation support individuals who may be struggling with substance use disorder.
For a little more background, StartYourRecovery.org is a groundbreaking website developed by bringing together experts in substance misuse treatment from leading nonprofit, academic, and government institutions. Through this important resource, individuals can hear stories from people with similar life experiences, discover the answers they need for recognizing and dealing with substance misuse, and locate support. You can learn more about us here.
https://startyourrecovery.org/
Opportunity for Veteran Caregivers
The Durham VA Health System Research Unit has a research opportunity for CAREGIVERS (unpaid friends or family) of older veterans to receive 12 weeks of navigation support. This an opportunity to learn and connect to VA and local community supports and services from a trained navigator to see if such a thing is feasible for the larger VA system. This is a research study so there is no guarantee of benefit, but assessments of the caregivers’ experiences will help a near future program of support. The caregiver will need to take part in regular assessments by phone. We need YOUR help recruiting about 10-20 caregivers of older veterans (65+) with advanced stage illness as defined below for a lay navigation support pilot intervention; each caregiver gets assigned a navigator for a 12-week period. Please send appropriate caregivers our way!
Interested caregivers can call the study coordinators at 919-286-0411 ext 17-7377 or ext 17-4012 and leave a message containing name, number and best times to call.
Inclusion criteria: Caregivers of veterans 65+ served by Durham VA; the veteran must have one or more of the following diagnoses (if unsure, we can screen this):
a. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – Hospitalization in the past year or home oxygen dependent
b. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) – New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Class Symptoms 3 or 4
c. Solid organ cancers (excluding skin cancer); Stage IIIB or IV
d. Dementia of any stage
Homebound Vaccine Providers
Are you looking for a vaccine for a person who is homebound? NCDHHS has created a list of vaccine providers in North Carolina who are able to vaccinate homebound people. Please reach out to vaccine providers on this list to ask about their current availability for homebound vaccinations – some may not currently be offering homebound vaccinations. No matter the circumstance, everyone has a spot to take their shot!
Webinars on Healthcare Coverage
From our friends at the North Carolina Council of Churches: Great information about the current state of healthcare and what we can do to advocate for change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUfADGayawI&list=PLSus3cjCVLMbJwUwzuerP-nBbi5rZzCLZ&index=10
Veterans and Service Members
Active duty, retirees, reservists and military family members live in every county in North Carolina. Many of these folks are church members and certainly live in our communities. We know that these neighbors volunteer to ensure the greater good of our country, and we certainly want to welcome them to our church families and care for them the best we can.
Many Veterans are likely to turn to clergy before seeking mental health treatment.
Below are some helpful resources:
Suicide Prevention & Bereavement:
https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/
https://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn19/postvention/
Integrative Mental Health:
https://www.mirecc.va.gov/IMH/index.asp
The Shay Moral Injury Center:
https://www.voa.org/moralinjury-resources
Durham VA Health Care System:
Women’s Health
Breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer in women after skin cancer. About 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point. The good news is that most women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early.
If you are a woman age 40 to 49, talk with your doctor about when to start getting mammograms and how often to get them.
If you are a woman age 50 to 74, be sure to get a mammogram every 2 years. You may also choose to get them more often.
Talk to a doctor about your risk for breast cancer, especially if a close family member of yours had breast or ovarian cancer. Your doctor can help you decide when and how often to get mammograms.
Healthcare for all is a faith issue.
Our Fact of the Week is “States’ failure to close the coverage gap has resulted in nearly 16,000 unnecessary deaths.“
Let’s close the healthcare coverage gap!
For news and information check out these partnership organizations:
Care4Carolina believes that access to quality, affordable health care helps build a healthier, stronger North Carolina. Covering the uninsured means better premium value for North Carolinians with private health insurance by lowering costs for everyone. Providing health insurance coverage will help people gain access to the care they need, which improves health outcomes.
Care4Carolina recognizes there are currently over 1 million uninsured. Of those, approximately 400,000 could benefit from closing the insurance gap and having affordable insurance options available to them.
Care4Carolina seeks to strengthen the economic and social wellbeing of our state by increasing access to affordable, quality healthcare for all North Carolinians.
https://care4carolina.com/updates/
Memory Care in North Carolina
Memory care facilities provide those living with Alzheimer’s and dementia with care that is tailored to their unique needs. Memory care can take place in its own facility, or as part of a designated wing of another residential care community. Staff members of memory care units or facilities undergo specialized training in caring for those with memory impairment, and the facilities often coordinate social activities and schedules specifically for the needs of those living with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
This guide will cover the cost of memory care in North Carolina, financial assistance options for paying for memory care, free memory care resources in the state, and a directory of memory care facilities in North Carolina.