HealthPath Foundation of Ohio helping to expand reach of Ohio Benefit Bank
In today’s tough economy, many Ohio families are struggling to make ends meet. In response to the ever-growing need for economic assistance, the HealthPath Foundation of Ohio (HPF-Ohio), in partnership with the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks, has launched the Ohio Benefit Bank (OBB) Expansion Project.  The OBB is a Web-based program that provides low and moderate income-clients (households with incomes under $56,000 per year) with free assistance to sign up for public benefits programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.

HPF-Ohio is supporting individual OBB located sites in its 36-county service area by awarding special opportunity grants of up to $5,000. The primary objective of each grant is to serve at least 150 households through the OBB by helping household members file for public benefits programs.

The following organizations have been awarded grants:

Ohio Benefit Bank Expansion Project                      Counties Served
Alvis House  $4,500 Allen, Auglaize, Hardin
Harcatus Tri-County Comm. Action  $4,000 Harrison, Carroll, Tuscarawas
Lutheran Social Services  $4,000 Allen
Ohio Assoc. of Second Harvest Foodbank  $5,000 All counties in Ohio
Partners in Hope  $1,273 Miami County
Piqua Compassion Network  $4,050 Miami, Shelby
The Potter's House Ministries  $2,500 Scioto
PSA 3 Agency on Aging, Inc.  $4,577 Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Mercer, Putnam, Van Wert
Restore Community Center  $4,100 Allen, Hardin
Trillium Family Solutions  $2,500 Stark
Trumbull Correctional Inst.  $1,000 Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbia
Wilmington United Methodist Church  $5,000 Clinton


Safety Net Solutions to provide technical assistance
The HPF-Ohio has contracted with Safety Net Solutions  (SNS)  — a project of the DentaQuest Institute — to provide implementation technical assistance to four safety net dental clinics receiving grant assistance from the Foundation through the Ohio Oral Health Capacity Building Project. This will strengthen the clinics’ ability to develop detailed implementation plans with measurable indicators. In addition, SNS will monitor and report evaluation data across the four sites as part of its scope of work. This will strengthen each site’s ability to evaluate its progress on a quarterly basis, and build capacity internally and across sites to monitor key performance indicators.

“SNS will help our safety net dental clinics broaden community reach by improving effectiveness and efficiency,” said Theresa Wukusick, Executive Director for HPF-Ohio.  “This is vital because oral health is the number one unmet health needs of Ohioans.”