LaGrange-based social services agency, Pillars, receives Lipinski grant
Lipinski Announces Grant for Pillars Community Health in La Grange
Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-3) is announcing that the Pillars Community Health Center in La Grange has been awarded a federal grant through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The organization will receive $243,200 to help expand access to treatment for substance use and mental health services, and advance the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program.
“Pillars Community Health has done a heroic job healing, caring, and educating for almost a century,” said Rep. Lipinski. “This funding to support care for people dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues will help Pillars continue the great work they have been doing in the community. I promise to keep fighting for more support for community health centers and for more funding for issues that no family is immune to.”
SBIRT is a coordinated, integrated approach to medical and behavioral health treatment. Patients who come to Pillars Community Health for medical or dental services can receive screenings and brief interventions related to mental health and substance use. Since May of 2017, the Pillars Community Health Center has been one of 15 Federally Qualified Health Centers participating in the “Facilitating Change for Excellence in SBIRT Learning Collaborative,” an initiative of the National Council for Behavioral Health.
“Our goal in expanding this program will be to effectively connect patients to an appropriate level of care in the healthcare setting where they’ve already established trusting relationships,” said Angela Curran, JD, LLM, president and CEO of Pillars Community Health. “As a community health center focused on expanding access to care, we are so proud of this important grant. We look forward to enhancing our resources toward our vision of helping people find equal access to the care they need, when they need it.”
The new funding will help Pillars Community Health pay for additional staff and screening tools to identify substance use disorders such as hazardous drinking, alcohol abuse or dependence, use of prescribed and over the counter drugs, and non-medical use, and quickly connect individuals with needed education and treatment.
Pillars Community Health is a nonprofit provider of health and social services. The organization is the result of a merger in January 2018 between Pillars and Community Nurse Health Center.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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