San Andreas, CA…Mark Twain Medical Center (MTMC) is proud to announce the names of the several Calaveras County not-for-profit organizations that received the Dignity Heath Mark Twain Medical Center Community Grant for 2017.  The hospital honored grant recipients at an awards luncheon in January. To date, more than $380,000 has been awarded to Calaveras organizations by the MTMC Community Grants Program. The Mark Twain Dignity Health Community Grants Program varies according to the size of each hospital. The project or program must be a response to the health priorities identified in the local Dignity Health hospital’s community health assessment or benefit plan, and the project to be funded must involve collaboration with a minimum of two other organizations and/or with a Dignity Health hospital in our community.

From left to right: Nicki Stevens, Marketing & Business Development Manager MTMC; Kevin Hesser, Calaveras Unified School District- Garden’s to Grow In; Katie Lackler , Calaveras Youth Mentoring Program; Cheree Munoz, Executive Camp Director of Dream Mountain Christian Camp; Bob Diehl, MTMC CEO/President

Five local organizations will be partnering together in 2018 with the awarded $ $32,701 to bring their collaborated efforts in support of The Calaveras Youth Health Initiative (CYHI) project. The agencies are; Dream Mountain Christian Camp, Gardens to Grow, Calaveras Youth Mentoring , Horse Speak, and Calaveras County Behavioral Health Services

Dream Mountain Christian Camp provides retreat facilities and recreational experiences to schools, churches, and other like-minded organizations. Dream Mountain specifically targets underserved populations to address a need and sponsors campers to attend who would not otherwise be able to attend. Specific functions include needs assessment, meal preparation, program planning, and implementation of the retreat.

Garden to Grow In supports and promotes healthy and sustainable lifestyles, youth development, community involvement and self-reliance in Calaveras County schools and communities by teaching children and families how to grow and prepare healthy food through garden-based nutrition education.

Calaveras Youth Mentoring Program connects local youth with safe, positive mentors who offer friendship, opportunity, and support for making healthy life decisions. Calaveras Youth Mentoring Program is administered
by the Calaveras County Office of Education and serves young people in 1st through 12th grades to support their success in relationships, and provide opportunities for learning and meaningful participation in their school and community.

Horse Speak Center is a certified equine-assisted counseling and learning center providing emotional support to our communities with the help of horses and therapy animals. Specific functions include counseling, workshops, and retreats.

Calaveras County Behavioral Health Services provides the community with a wide range of mental health services for children, youth and adults in Calaveras County. Specially trained county behavioral health staff members provide services in cooperation with community agencies and private health care providers.

The Calaveras Youth Health Initiative (CYHI) project plans to address the mental, emotional and physical health of youth in Calaveras County by empowering youth to support their own health and be the mentors for other youth in Calaveras County to do the same. This will be done with a multi-agency and multi-dimensional approach to help meet the many different needs of Calaveras youth. This will include the collaboration of three different programs with the common goal of improving the health of Calaveras County youth, including youth retreats at Dream Mountain Christian Camp (Part I), garden-based nutrition education programs implemented in Calaveras County schools (Part II), and post-camp reflection and community-based mentoring implemented by Calaveras Youth Mentoring Program (Part III).

“Dream Mountain is honored and excited to be the recipients of the Community Health Grant for 2018, stated Cheree Munoz, Executive Camp Director of Dream Mountain Christian Camp. “ We will be hosting meaningful camps that benefit the youth of Calaveras County. We are hoping to empower our youth and leave a positive impact on their emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.”

The MTMC Executive Leadership Team carefully evaluated the programs to determine which programs best address the unmet health needs as revealed in MTMC Community Needs Assessment. Six local nonprofit organizations submitted proposals, requesting a total of $116,402.

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About Mark Twain Medical Center
Founded in 1951, Mark Twain Medical Center is a 25-bed, critical-access hospital providing inpatient acute care, outpatient services and emergency services. The Medical Center’s Medical Staff represents a broad range of specialties that ensure access to high quality medical care in a rural community. In addition to being a major provider of health services, Mark Twain Medical Center is also a major source of jobs for area residents. On average, more than 300 people are employed at the hospital and its five Family Medical Centers. The Medical Center is a member of Dignity Health, the fifth largest not-for-profit healthcare system in the nation. For more information, please visit our website at www.marktwainmedicalcenter.org. Mark Twain Medical Center is also on Facebook.