Health Department Announces Continued Funding from The Kresge Foundation

The Health Department received additional funding in the amount of $40,000 from The Kresge Foundation in a rapid response grant opportunity, Advancing Public Health in Communities. A previous grant was awarded to the Health Department in September 2018 for the Emerging Leaders in Public Health program. The original funding continues to support strategic planning efforts as the Public Health and Mental Health Departments become one agency, as the Department is adapting and continuing to respond to COVID-19, and with the ongoing need to address structural racism and health inequities in our community.

REACH Medical was previously awarded funding from the City of Ithaca (Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency – IURA) to implement a mobile COVID-19 testing team for individuals experiencing homelessness or who are unstably housed. REACH Medical is staffing a mobile COVID-19 testing outreach team to collect between 600-900 samples of an estimated 200 unique individuals three times over the course of six months. The additional funding from Kresge will contribute to the processing fees of surveillance testing. This testing will allow for early identification of positive cases that otherwise may not be identified, as well as isolation of any positive cases, and quarantine of close contacts.

“The continued support from The Kresge Foundation demonstrates their strong commitment to local public health and the COVID-19 response. The awards from Kresge, in addition to the ongoing support from our Legislature and County Administration, are allowing us to transform the work we are doing and leverage existing funds to strengthen existing partnerships in the community. We thank The Kresge Foundation for this support,” stated Frank Kruppa, Tompkins County Public Health Director.

To learn more about the Kresge awards: kresge.org/news-views/kresge-awards-new-grant-funding-to-support-local-public-health-departments-leading-covid-19-response-efforts/