Grant supports DeKalb Community Service Board Integrated Health Program
The Brighter DeKalb Foundation is pleased to announce that it has received an endowment grant in the amount of $158,762 from The Fulton DeKalb Hospital Authority to support DeKalb Community Service Board’s Integrated Health Program (IHP).
The funding will allow DeKalb Community Service Board (CSB) to provide comprehensive integrated care, which will focus on assisting individuals who may have unmet health care needs due to barriers in accessing care which often leads to individuals accessing urgent or emergent services unnecessarily.
“For nearly 23 years, DeKalb CSB has worked with individuals struggling from mental illness and addiction, many who do not have primary care,” said Dr. Joseph Bona, Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb CSB. “Programs such as DeKalb CSB’s IHP can improve the care for patients with chronic and complex medical and behavioral health conditions while decreasing the operational strain on our emergency care resources.”
Research indicates that adults living with serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than other Americans, largely due to treatable medical conditions. The FDHA funding provides operational support for primary health care services and will help to improve the health of unfunded DeKalb CSB patients by increasing their access to comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care services.
“We have nearly 500 employees and see over 11,000 patients, and most of that work is with individuals that are struggling financially,” Bona said. “With this grant DeKalb CSB will be able to broaden the scope of our services by offering clients basic primary medical care, exercise and nutrition education, along with wellness and healthy lifestyle groups.”
Since starting the program, DeKalb CSB has served more than 850 individuals through the Integrated Health Program who otherwise might not access the healthcare system.
“Thank you to The FDHA and the Brighter DeKalb Foundation for their support of this initiative and for their dedication to the health of the residents of DeKalb County.”
About Brighter DeKalb Foundation
Brighter DeKalb Foundation is a nonprofit organization in metro-Atlanta established to help youth and adults reclaim their lives by supporting the full continuum of behavioral health and developmental disability services provided by the DeKalb Community Service Board (DeKalb CSB).
Founded in 1994, DeKalb CSB is a public, nonprofit organization that provides a wide range of evidence-based behavioral health, substance abuse and developmental disability services. Through more than 20 locations across DeKalb County, DeKalb CSB serves more than 11,000 children, adolescents and adults annually to help them recover and resume productive lives. DeKalb CSB employs more than 500 staff, and is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Learn more about DeKalb Community Service Board at www.dekcsb.org.
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