We partner with nonprofit organizations, community residents with lived experiences, and BJC HealthCare's Community Health Improvement team to convene, support, and lead efforts that address individual health needs and systemic barriers to health equity. Your gift funds community programs designed to eliminate health disparities in under-resourced communities in the City of St. Louis, North St. Louis County, and rural areas. Together, we can give all people the opportunity to live their healthiest possible lives.

School Health and Wellness

With support from our donors, BJC Community Health Improvement partners with more than 50 schools and five community organizations to advance equitable health and educational outcomes through BJC's Community Wellness Hub program. The hubs offer families, adults, and children a trusted a safe place for respite, mental wellness programming, and resource connection year-round. Your philanthropic support will empower thousands of families with coping methods to improve their mental wellness each year.

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Healthy Eating Active Living

Thousands of St. Louis neighbors face food insecurity and are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes each year. Through BJC's Healthy Eating Active Living initiative, we work to reduce the prevalence of chronic conditions by improving access to healthy food and providing health education. Philanthropic support advances critical BJC programs that provide food, nutrition education, access to safe spaces for physical activity, and social support to patients and their families to create long-term healthy habits.

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Improving Black Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes

Missouri has the seventh highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, with Black women 3.5 times as likely to die during pregnancy or from complications arising during childbirth compared to white women. With support from donors like you, BJC HealthCare is working to eliminate racial disparities by collaborating with community-based doulas and building clinical care teams that reflect the community it serves to help improve equity in maternal health outcomes.

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Equitable Vaccinations and Screenings

Vaccines and screenings play a pivotal role in saving lives, yet vaccination rates continue to fall below targets set by Healthy People 2030. Generous donors make it possible for BJC HealthCare to provide free flu vaccinations, year-round screening events, and other preventative services in under-resourced communities.

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New Responsive Initiatives 

Health equity is about everyone having an equal opportunity to be as healthy as possible. That means addressing the systems and structures that stand in the way of optimal health. Your support will enable us to address emerging community needs (e.g., housing security, gun safety and violence reduction, digital divide, etc.).

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Search the documents below to learn more about the areas that interest you. Discover how your generosity enriches lives, saves lives, and transforms health care.

Feeding the Heart, Mind, and Community

Thursday, August 10, 2023

A fruitful garden requires a few simple yet essential elements—seeds, soil, sun, and water. At the Baden Community Vegetable Garden, it also takes committed, creative community members to help the garden flourish, strengthening the neighborhood with fresh, nutritious food and a common purpose rooted in healthy fellowship.

SEEDING A GARDEN
The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital awarded a community support grant to Assisi House to create the Baden Community Vegetable Garden in July 2022. Community grants from the Foundation provide seed funding to St. Louis nonprofit organizations to launch new programs to reduce health care disparities, foster strong community health care networks, promote health and wellness, or provide quality health care education.

The Baden Community Vegetable Garden is located in the City of St. Louis between Our Lady of the Holy Cross Catholic Church and Assisi House, which offers affordable housing for previously unhoused individuals and families. In a community with few options for fresh, nutrient-dense food, program organizers prioritized growing healthy food and creating a community gathering place where all are welcome.

“We wanted a community garden for the people to have something to do that’s constructive and to provide them with things that they may want to grow and eat,” says Gloria Gooden, a Baden resident since 1972 and owner of Gooden and Daughter Plumbing Contractors. “My hope is that the garden becomes a whole community project.”

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