In 2018, Cambia Health Foundation, the corporate foundation of Cambia Health Solutions, awarded Sound a three-year grant totaling $200,000 for its program serving the holistic needs of survivors of domestic violence. Sound was one of only 14 nonprofits from the Northwest to receive the award, each with a track record for significantly impacting the lives of the people served.
For the Cambia Health Foundation, and its Program Officer, Steve Lesky, the grant is a means of redressing what they believe are significant healthcare inequities in the community, especially for people who have been marginalized, neglected or forgotten by the system.
“We know, and have known for a long time, that social determinants—including safety, security, housing—are the biggest predictors of people being able to achieve good health,” he says.
“Cambia Health Foundation is committed to help impact the social determinants and create a system that achieves equity and empowers people to live their healthiest lives.”
The Foundation also recognized that behavioral health is not only a core component of primary care, but that it also courses through multiple systems of care such as housing, primary care, addiction treatment and others. An area where it is readily apparent is in domestic violence, and Sound’s Children’s Domestic Violence Response Team (CDVRT)—a program that integrates domestic violence services, the court system, behavioral health, housing and other systems—exemplifies system changing work that the Cambia Health Foundation supports.
“We see the partnership as a way that we can help change the system and change the outcomes for people,” Lesky says. “I would like our partnership to hold this model up as ‘best in class,’ as an example of what we can do when we put the needs of people first and design services to support their goals—rather than having client needs try to fit the system.”
Sound’s Development Department applauds the Foundation.
“It is deeply gratifying to see organizations like Cambia Health Foundation step up in support of worthwhile and incredible programs like CDVRT,” says Sound Chief Development Officer, Sue Bean. “This grant is a more than a financial investment. It is the source of renewed hope, second chances and a new beginning for people who often have little other options. We are so pleased to partner with Cambia to continue our work transforming lives in the community.”
The grant will be distributed over three years, ending in November 2020. Founded in 2007, the Foundation has funded over $60 million in grants to advance patient- and family-centered care for all.