Initiative designed to meet pressing social and health needs amid the COVID-19 pandemic
January 08, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
COLUMBUS, Ohio–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Health and well-being company Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) today announced partnerships with several of Ohio’s leading community service organizations to address social factors that can significantly impact individual and community health, including food insecurity and housing insecurity. Both of these social determinants of health are even more acute today in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic downturn.
These latest community investments total nearly $500,000 and build on an earlier Humana initiative to provide more than $1.6 million in COVID-19 relief and recovery assistance in Ohio.
Food Insecurity
In Ohio, more than 1.6 million people are struggling with hunger, including nearly 500,000 children. With that in mind, Humana has made an initial investment to support three major local food banks:
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The Foodbank, a Dayton-area organization serving the Miami Valley.
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The Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the largest hunger relief organization in Northeast Ohio.
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The Mid-Ohio Food Collective in the Columbus area provides enough food for more than 170,000 meals every day to people across 20 central and eastern Ohio counties.
“We are incredibly grateful to be working in partnership with Humana to strengthen access to nutritious food for our neighbors who are struggling in rural and/or Appalachian areas of our footprint,” said Matt Habash, President and CEO of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. “Partnerships with health care companies like Humana will go a long way toward improving health outcomes and supporting our food-based health care work, including our ‘Farmacy’ initiatives, here in Ohio. We appreciate the extraordinary leadership and generous investment by Humana to ensure that all in our communities can thrive.”
Housing
On any given day, more than 10,000 Ohioans are homeless. To help foster reliable housing for those in need, Humana is involved in two local, affordable housing initiatives:
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Humana is providing funding, as well as health care and research expertise, to Columbus-based Families Flourish, a collaboration to determine how safer, more prosperous and higher resourced neighborhoods can change the trajectory of a person’s life. Families Flourish is expanding its pilot to a 100 household project, to provide 100 local families with vital financial assistance and personal development resources during these challenging times.
