Health Resources and Services Administration awards Rural Health Outreach grant to Future Generations

An agency of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Health Resources and Services Administration, recently awarded Future Generations a $443,836 grant to train community health workers (CHWs) across rural West Virginia. For this three-year project, CHWs are referred to as Community Health Education Resource Persons (CHERPS).

Instead of operating under the umbrella of local primary health facilities, CHERPS will operate as the community health extension arm of volunteer fire and rescue squads, which are among West Virginia's most successful community outreach and anchor institutions.

With a goal to improve health, the CHERPS will focus on prevention, which is a core challenge in West Virginia. To do this, they will facilitate a community-wide and incentive-based peer-to-peer support structure that encourages healthy choices and prevents disease.

This year, HRSA awarded 70 grantees a total of $10.4 million dollars to provide direct health care services to their communities.

Browse the list of 2012 grantees (Future Generations is listed last).