For Immediate Release
Family Service receives Healthy Kids, Healthy Families grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Award will fund Well-Being and Healthy Eating Projects
CONTACT: Francesca Hill, 210-607-9468 | fhill@family-service.org
San Antonio, Texas, (March 24, 2021) – Family Service was awarded a Healthy Kids, Healthy Families® (HKHF) grant by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX). The HKHF funding will support BCBSTX’s commitment to community-based organizations supporting children and families who have been impacted by the health, economic, and social implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Miranos! Look at us, We Are Healthy!” and Healthy at Home! is a child and family obesity prevention project that began as a research project in collaboration with UTSA three years ago. The study observed the effects of child and family obesity prevention programs and curriculums on parents, and if through these education materials, parents and children had better health outcomes. With the success of the original research project, Family Service is continuing Miranos! and Healthy at Home! throughout our early childhood education sites as it furthers our mission of empowering individuals and families to transform their lives and strengthen our community.
Funding from BCBSTX’s HKHF Grant will support Healthy at Home! efforts in teaching parents how to promote healthy habits and create a home environment best suited to manage their children’s energy-balance behaviors. The project focuses on overall well-being while promoting daily activity and healthy eating choices. The project will include 12 interactive parent education modules to teach parents energy-balance behavior management strategies, weekly encouragement from parent advocates for children and families, motivational texts, and support meetings to help parents and children learn healthy eating habits that prevent chronic obesity.
“Providing support to focus on overall well-being, establishing healthy eating habits, and continuing education ensures we are providing our children and families holistic support,” said Mary Garr, President and CEO, Family Service. “Our programs work to address the social determinants of health of our communities, and by doing so, address every facet of someone’s life. Health and wellness are central to leading a happy, healthy, stable life. By integrating these additional support services in early childhood education, and by helping to create these healthy habits early on, we hope to lead to further success and life-time changes for our families.”
Launched in 2011, HKHF started as a three-year project designed to improve the health and wellness of at least one million children through community investments. The program was extended as BCBSTX’s ongoing commitment to the health and well-being of the children and families across Texas.
“This year’s grant process was especially important given the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sheena Payne, BCBSTX’s director of Community Investments. “So, we are happy to award these grants that will support and nurture meaningful and transformational projects across Texas.
Strategically, it is also important that we continue to aid community-based organizations that are directly supporting children and families who have been impacted by the health, economic, and social implications of this pandemic.”
The HKHF program – which centers on nutrition, physical activity, disease prevention and management and supporting safe environments – has awarded $14 million in funding and impacted the lives of close to three-million children and their families in Texas.
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Family Service has been building strong families since 1903. As the oldest human service nonprofit in San Antonio, Family Service addresses the social determinants of health, those barriers and opportunities created by where people live, learn, work, play, and age. Helping individuals and families from birth to older adults, Family Service is dedicated to helping those in need. Visit www.family- service.org to learn more about the organization and the 117 years of service to local and area families.
Mission: empowering individuals and families to transform their lives. We do this by addressing the social determinants of health through a trauma-informed care lens.
