INDIANAPOLIS – Eskenazi Health Foundation has received more than $8.5 million from the Regenstrief Foundation and the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation in support of the Beyond Barriers Campaign — an initiative that supports Eskenazi Health’s long-standing commitment to addressing the social drivers that impact the health and well-being of residents in Marion County and across Central Indiana.
The Beyond Barriers campaign is centered around three areas of wellness including health care, mental health care and food as medicine. Efforts are focused within three recently established health equity zones – geographic areas in which Eskenazi Health and community partners work together to address social determinants of health including racial equity and economic mobility with the goal of increasing the life expectancy of those living within the area. By 2025, health equity zones will be implemented at three Eskenazi Health Center sites: Eskenazi Health Center West 38th Street — International Marketplace, Eskenazi Health Center East 38th Street — Northeast Corridor, and Eskenazi Health Center Grassy Creek — Far Eastside.
Community health workers and community weavers serve as valuable resources within these health equity zones. Community health workers meet with patients at a health center or in the patients’ homes. Community weavers visit neighbors within the community and help connect them with available resources from local organizations or government entities.
The Regenstrief Foundation has awarded more than $5.5 million to evaluate initiatives aimed at decreasing inequities in health, most of which will be focused on social determinants of health in underserved and minority populations. Results of this research will identify interventions that prove effective and can then be implemented more broadly. The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation has awarded $3 million to address substance use disorder in Indianapolis and the social determinants of health that impact the rate of tobacco use and youth nicotine use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 11,000 adults in Indiana die each year from smoking-related illnesses.