Source: JS Atlantic
The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey has awarded Jewish Family Service (JFS) $25,000 for a fifth year of grant funding for the agency’s Wellness Network.
Previously known as Advance Your Health, the Wellness Network offers an expansion of services. This program creates a multi-tiered disease management home that promotes care access and patient adherence to improve the health outcomes for Atlantic County residents.
The Wellness Network offers mental health care coordination, patient advocacy, literacy support, self-care tools and social services in addition to the nurse navigation services, medical linkages, and health education interventions previously provided through Advance Your Health. This program will facilitate improved care recommendations, patient follow through, and sustainable health.
The Wellness Network will be the first of its kind in Atlantic County, providing a disease-management model which integrates medical and social services to improve health outcomes. With the support of The Horizon Foundation of New Jersey, the JFS Wellness Network will work with participants to identify goals and create care plans, offer healthy food vouchers, help with meal planning, shopping and food preparation, design personal physical activities and much more.
The feedback JFS has received from individuals who participate in the Wellness Network reflect its value. A woman who recently attended a diabetes self-management program said, “I have benefited from this class more than I ever expected. I have promised myself that I will continue the good habits I’ve learned.”
The JFS Wellness Network was designed to strengthen health outcomes for medically underserved individuals in Atlantic County. Wellness Network services are vital to help participants overcome obstacles such as communication barriers with medical providers and misinformation. JFS’s experience shows that these types of services ultimately reduce hospitalizations and rising healthcare costs.
“Our mission is to improve the health and quality of life for residents, families and neighbors we serve,” said Jonathan R. Pearson, Executive Director of The Horizon Foundation. “The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey is proud to support and work collaboratively with organizations like Jewish Family Service and its Wellness Network because they make a positive difference in the lives they touch and in the communities they serve.”
The mission of The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey is to support organizations that make New Jersey healthier. Since its formation in 2004, the Foundation has awarded more than 1,330 grants and more than $48.5 million in support of non-profit organizations that have improved public health and the quality of life in New Jersey.
Jewish Family Service serves more than 8,000 local individuals per year through a variety of services. Responding to the needs of the community, JFS offers counseling, case management, and an array of other services including family and children’s programs, older adult assistance, autism support, Kosher Meals-on-Wheels, a community food pantry and diabetes advocacy.
For more information about the Wellness Network or other JFS services and events, please call 609-822-1108 or visit jfsAtlantic.org.