Gardner Health Services Receives Emergency Grant from Direct Relief to Bolster the Healthcare Safety Net in Santa Clara County

Gardner Health Services today announced an infusion of $50,000 in emergency grant funding from the medical aid organization Direct Relief, in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers.
Gardner Health Services was among 518 federally qualified health centers to receive funding this week through Direct Relief’s $25 million COVID-19 Fund for Community Health, which recognizes the profound effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the finances, services, staff, and patients of community health centers.
Gardner Health Services will use the funds to provide screenings and help secure personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of frontline staff, patients, and clients.
“Access to primary care is what keeps people healthy and out of the hospital, and the frontline work of Gardner Health Services and other nonprofit community health centers across the U.S. is more critical than ever with the onset of COVID-19,” said Direct Relief President and CEO Thomas Tighe. “Direct Relief is doing everything possible to bolster the work and support the staffs at the safety-net health facilities on which so many patients and their families rely for excellent care and trust for advice in this public health emergency.”
Nearly 30 million (1 in 12) of the country’s most vulnerable residents — including 1 in 3 individuals living in poverty, 1 in 5 Medicaid beneficiaries, and 1 in 9 children — rely on federally qualified health centers like Gardner Health Services for their health care. That number is expected to rise as more people lose employer-sponsored insurance.
“We are grateful for this critical and immediate support as Community Health Centers work hard to keep communities safe during an unprecedented pandemic,” said Tom Van Coverden, President & CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). “We are also deeply appreciative of our longstanding partnership with Direct Relief in these uncertain times and their efforts to ensure that health centers confronting multiple challenges in underserved communities have the resources when and where they need them. We know that many donors and contributors have helped to make this fund possible, and we further extend our appreciation to all of them.”
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About Gardner Health Services:

Born of the Civil Rights Era, Gardner Health Services serves almost 46,000 Santa Clara and San Mateo county residents. In 1967, the Alviso community, aided by Stanford Medical School, medical students and the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity, built the Alviso Family Health Center, a community clinic to fill the gap of non-existent medical care for Mexican farm workers. When services were expanded into the City of San José, the name was changed to Family Health Foundation of Alviso, Inc. Around the same time, in a separate community, a group in the Gardner neighborhood, aided by Stanford Medical School, medical students, and Sacred Heart Church organized Gardner Health Center, a community clinic helping cannery workers. In the 70’s, mental health became a core service offered to youth. Gardner also provided Santa Clara County its first mental health program. In 1997, Gardner Health Center and Family Health Foundation of Alviso, Inc. affiliated, becoming Gardner Family Health Network offering the primary care services and its subsidiary, Gardner Family Care Corp. providing Specialty Mental Health, Substance Abuse and WIC. In July 2019 Gardner Family Health Network, Inc and Gardner Family Care Corporation came together and merged as one under Gardner Family Health Network, Inc. d.b.a. Gardner Health Services.