MW Health Blog

In June, after his aunt died leaving her husband of 65 years on his own, Cohen was faced with the difficult task of asking his 95-year-old uncle to give up his “license and freedom.” After that experience, Cohen said he understood the importance of a service like ITNGreaterBoston on an emotional level.

ITN, or Independent Transportation Network, provides seniors and the visually impaired with an affordable transportation option so they can continue to lead active lives even if they can no longer drive.

The MetroWest Health Foundation and Tufts Health Plan Foundation pledged $600,000 over the course of three years to create ITNGreaterBoston. Both foundations identified a need for a service that provided a way for seniors to get to critical medical appointments, even if, like Cohen’s uncle, they are no longer able to drive themselves.

The service is about much more than providing seniors with a ride, as ITNAmerica’s founder, Katherine Freund, explained last week.

Freund visited the foundation’s offices to talk to a group of 30 stakeholders about why she started the nation’s first nonprofit to address the senior transportation crisis. Seniors are faced with too few options, said Freund, and the ones that exist are the “hospital gown of transit.”

ITN is different in that it is staffed primarily by volunteers who are offering a service that keeps their passengers connected to the community.

Freund told stories about individual rides like a man from Connecticut who had Alzheimer’s disease. In his college days he rowed crew and ITN provided a means for him to continue rowing, and even win, races in his division.

She told many more stories about people who used the service to get to hair appointments, doctor’s appointments, to take their grandchildren places. Again and again she referred to it as “dignified” transportation for seniors.

ITNGreaterBoston is gearing up to provide transportation in the suburbs of Boston and MetroWest this winter. For more information visit, www.ITNGreaterBoston.org.

This is a guest post by Framingham resident and grant panel member, Cheryl Tully Stoll.

Last week when I was asked to be the first guest blogger for the newly renamed MetroWest Health Foundation I was honored. It’s an organization that I have donated great deal of time to over the last six years.

I am beginning my seventh year as a member of the Framingham Union Grants Panel. As a grants panel member, I see my responsibility as representing the people of Framingham in the Foundation’s grants process in as ethical, knowledgeable and fiscally responsible manner as possible.

The Foundation only has a certain amount of funds to distribute to the community, and it’s the panel’s responsibility to make recommendations that will fulfill the mission of the organization while simultaneously meeting the most critical unmet health needs of a town where those needs are growing exponentially. Every dollar that we recommend spending on a particular grant application; is a dollar that we no longer have available to dedicate to another request. That makes each decision the panel makes doubly important.

Additionally, since we are a health foundation, our decisions have the potential to positively or negatively impact people’s lives. That responsibility is always part of my thought process when evaluating any grant application.

Ten Points I Consider When Evaluating a Grant Application:
1. Does the proposal attempt to address an unmet health need in Framingham?

2. Is the proposal well written and well thought out? Does the proposing agency have a clear understanding of the need they are trying to address and will their proposed actions actually address that need?

3. Does the organization have the capacity and the expertise to carry out the project they are proposing and what type of track record do they have with similar programs?

4. Is the budget appropriate to the task being proposed? What is the cost per individual benefiting; and is there a more cost effective way to achieve similar results?

5. Are the projected outcomes realistic and measurable?

6. Is there a better way to accomplish the objective than the one being proposed? Could the project be done more effectively utilizing other partners in the community?

7. Does the proposal address racial and ethnic disparities in health care in our community?

8. Is the agency proposing to use evidence-based methods to achieve their objectives?

9. Does this grant supplant government funds or pay for direct health care for individuals?

10. Is the project sustainable without the support of the Foundation at the end of the grant period?

I have found my first six years on the panel very rewarding and am looking forward to reviewing your applications in the upcoming Fall Grant Cycle. Please let me know, as a current or prospective grantee, if you find these tips helpful.

The start of the school year is a perfect time for parents to remind kids about the importance of exercise, a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, making the right choices when it comes to friends, alcohol and drugs and even who they date.