Photos: Manhattan Borough President Office\Anthem Blue Cross
NEW YORK, New York, April 18, 2024 – – Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, EngageWell IPA and Housing Works leadership joined elected officials including Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine in a formal Grant presentation as well as a ribbon-cutting at a new health facility in East Harlem.
The Grant to Housing Works will support EngageWell IPA’s Care Your Way digital intervention, a model that delivers fresh, healthy food boxes and preprepared meals to the doorsteps of people experiencing food insecurity and others chronic conditions. The Grant presentation and ribbon-cutting in celebration of Housing Works’ new Community Health Center at 145 East 125th Street in Manhattan took place on Thursday, April 18th.
“The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation works to promote health equity by focusing on improving the wellbeing of New Yorkers with the greatest health-related social needs through our community partnerships and collaborative programs,” said Dr. Lisa Thompson, Plan Performance Medical Director at Anthem. “We at Anthem are thrilled that this innovative grant is being commemorated alongside the ribbon-cutting for Housing Works newest health center. The Center will increase access to much need resources.”
EngageWell’s Care Your Way program is an integrated model that provides clients a choice in how and where they receive care and treatment—either face-to-face or virtually. It addresses common socioeconomic barriers to positive health outcomes such as food insecurity and medication adherence, leading to higher patient satisfaction, improved engagement in preventive care and treatment, and reduced avoidable healthcare spending. Moreover, as food insecurity grows due to COVID-19, post-pandemic inflation, and rollbacks on emergency SNAP benefits, EngageWell is leveraging smartphone technology to modernize and destigmatize residents’ experience with an outdated food safety net system.
Housing Works’ new East Harlem Community Health Center will bring primary care, psychiatry, and psychotherapy services to the corner of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, providing expanded access to compassionate care that addresses a number of chronic conditions and other needs in the community.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation
The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, is a philanthropic arm of the Elevance Health Foundation. The Foundation works to address health equity by focusing on improving the health of the socially vulnerable through strategic partnerships and programs in our communities with an emphasis on maternal child health; mental health; and food as medicine. Additionally, the Foundation also responds to disasters when our communities need us the most. The Foundation coordinates the company’s year-round Dollars for Dollars program which provides a 100 percent match of associates’ donations, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbol are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. To learn more about the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation and the Elevance Health Foundation, please visit www.elevancehealth.foundation and its blog at www.medium.com/elevancehealthfoundation.
About EngageWell IPA
EngageWell IPA is a leading healthcare organization created in 2017 by New York City not-for-profit organizations working together to offer coordinated, integrated treatment options that include addressing social determinants of health—housing, nutrition, economic security. Through innovative clinical care models and strategic partnerships, EngageWell strives to create a more equitable healthcare system that addresses health disparities and improves the health and wellbeing of historically disenfranchised communities.
About Housing Works
Housing Works is a healing community of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. Our mission is to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS through relentless advocacy, provision of lifesaving services, and entrepreneurial businesses that sustain our efforts. Founded in 1990, Housing Works serves approximately 15,000 clients annually through six primary care clinics, case management, mental health and substance use treatment, harm reduction services, transitional and permanent supportive housing, peer and vocational education, reentry services, and more. Our Thrift Shops, Bookstore Café, and signature events directly benefit trailblazing work in grassroots activism, health care, and housing. A founding member of EngageWell, Housing Works will receive and administer Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield “Food as Medicine” funding on behalf of the IPA.
PHOTO CAPTION: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation presented Housing Works with a $300,000 grant supporting use of EngageWell IPA’s Care Your Way digital intervention, a model that delivers fresh, healthy food boxes and preprepared meals to the doorsteps of people experiencing food insecurity and others chronic conditions.
SHOWN IN CHECK PRESENTATION PHOTO: (L-R) Nadine Akinyemi, CEO, Bringing Access to Care and Board Chair of EngageWell IPA; Christopher Joseph, Executive Director, Engagewell IPA; Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President; Jessica Diamond, Executive Director, Housing Works Community Healthcare Services; Manisha Franklin, Director, Community Relations, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield; Dr. Lisa Thompson, Plan Performance Medical Director, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.