Contact: Susan Leahy, Communications Manager
MGH Center for Community Health Improvement
(617) 643-5288 office smleahy@partners.org
(617) 312-5229 cell
Tim Sullivan, Communications and Media Relations
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
(617) 952-5325office tsullivan11@partners.org
(617) 501-5985 cell
Grants announced for Building a Healthier Charlestown
CHARLESTOWN, MA— August 12, 2014--Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for
Community Health Improvement (CCHI) and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital recently
announced the distribution of $118,628 in grant funding through Building a Healthier
Charlestown to two Charlestown collaboratives.
The grants follow a community health assessment and community health improvement planning
process conducted in 2012 by the CCHI and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in partnership
with the residents of Charlestown. The improvement plan highlighted four areas-- education;
substance abuse/mental health; access to care/autism and cancer prevention and access to
treatment—as priority issues in Charlestown.
The overall purpose of Building a Healthier Charlestown is to improve the health of the
Charlestown community by building the capacity of, and fostering collaboration between,
community-based organizations to use evidence-based approaches to address the priorities
identified in the health improvement plan. MGH and Spaulding are investing financial and
technical resources to aid in this effort.
To accomplish this goal, Building a Healthier Charlestown will fund five-year grants for two
partnerships located in or providing the majority of their services to Charlestown residents.

The John F. Kennedy Family Service Center received $53,980 to support the
Healthier Living Through Good Food and Exercise in collaboration with
Kids Cooking Green, the Charlestown YMCA, Cancer Prevention
Awareness and Education and Whole Foods Market to promote healthy diet
and physical activity.
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
The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) received $64,648 to support a collaboration
between BHA Charlestown Adult Education Program (CAEP), Mishawum &
CharlesNewtown Housing, Smart from the Start and the Charlestown Substance Abuse
Coalition. The partnership will help to develop a culture of life-long learning in
Charlestown by providing high quality high school equivalency preparation and ESOL
classes and facilitating high level college and career readiness skills. In addition, the
program will reach out to Charlestown residents with education and information on ways
to reduce violence and the misuse of drugs and alcohol.
About the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Founded in 1971, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston is one of the largest rehabilitation facilities
in the United States, and ranked the 6th top rehabilitation hospital in the country by U.S. News & World
Report. As the official teaching hospital of the Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation (PM&R), Spaulding is at the forefront of research in advances in rehabilitative care. In
April 2013, Spaulding opened a new 132-bed facility in Charlestown which is a national model for
environmental and inclusive design. With a wide range of inpatient programs and 23 outpatient centers
throughout Eastern Massachusetts, Spaulding strives to continually update and improve its programs to
offer patients the latest, high-quality care through its leading, expert providers. Spaulding has been awarded
a Model Systems designation in three specialty areas- Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury and Brain Injury
Rehabilitation- by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. For more information,
please visit www.spauldingrehab.org
About the Center for Community Health Improvement (CCHI)
CCHI www.massgeneral.org/cchi carries out its work in Chelsea, Revere, and Charlestown, where MGH
has maintained healthcare centers for more than 40 years, as well as in Boston among youth, homeless
persons and seniors. CCHI has partnered with the communities it serves to assess needs and create more
than 50 programs that:

Reduce and prevent substance use disorders

Intervene in the cycle of violence

Tackle the obesity epidemic by increasing access to healthy food and physical activity

Increase access to care for vulnerable populations such as immigrants and refugees, seniors, and
homeless people

Prevent cancers through early detection and screening

Generate interest in science and health careers among youth
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