Your Gifts at Work — Mission Grants 2023

The Home Nursing Agency Foundation, a community benefit, non-profit organization, recently awarded 18 Mission Grants totaling $174,950 to Agency programs and services. The grants will directly impact patient care and services that are provided in the home and in the community throughout 2023.

The Foundation’s mission is to provide financial support to create, improve, or enhance the Agency’s programs and services that ultimately results in a benefit to the individual, the family, and the community. The Foundation uses donations from individuals, community contributions, and proceeds from fundraising events, like Mercedes Moment, to annually award Mission Grants. Since 2005, the Foundation has awarded 433 grants totaling $2,577,348.

All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law and all dollars remain in the community—close to home within the cities, towns, and boroughs served by the Agency. Your support is greatly appreciated!

For more information about how you can make an impact, please visit contact Kim Helsel, Director of Development/Marketing Communications, 814-947-7024 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The following programs and services were awarded Mission Grants for 2022:

Family Hospice

Hospice Emergency Fund – To help individuals who are facing a life-limiting illness with emergency one-time funding for utility or fuel costs, medications, air conditioners, and other emergencies to ease the emotional and physical challenges occurring at the end of life.

Hospice Educational Resources  – To purchase educational booklets to be used by the family as a resource for the signs and symptoms of what to expect during the various stages of dying and large-print resources. Education decreases fears of patients and their caregivers, allowing them to have more peace of mind about the future.

Hospice Quality of Life – To enhance the quality of life for our patients by providing funds for a meal at restaurant to celebrate an anniversary for a dying patient/spouse, for a television for a patient with no other means of entertainment, or for CDs for an anxious patient calmed by music.

Hospice Veterans – To recognize hospice patients who are veterans through the presentation of a certificate and special American flag blanket.

Hospice Pill Planners/Education– To pay for pill planners and education that ensure medication is dispensed correctly and safely.

Hospice Volunteers – To provide funds to support the comfort and care of hospice patients who need bed sheets, neck pillows, hospital gowns, baby monitors, reading materials, and comfort bags comprised of lotions, portable CD players, portable projectors to provide images to bed bound patients. Additional purchase would be holiday gift item, such as fleece blankets.

Hospice Volunteers – To recognize hospice volunteers through appreciation luncheons and other efforts to demonstrate appreciation for volunteers' service to hospice patients and families.

Hospice Bereavement – To purchase stationery items (cards, grief support literature) for the extended support mailings to bereaved families. Also to purchase books “Healing After Loss” and journals to be used for those bereaved.

Hospice Bereavement – To fund a day-long retreat for widows/widowers in Blair and surrounding counties.

Hospice Bereavement – To provide emergency funding for life necessities of bereaved family members impacted by the hospice patient's care or passing.

Healing Patch

Healing Patch - Children’s Grief Program –To supplement overhead costs, including staff time/facility costs, craft/activity supplies, and food. In addition, to cover expenses for staff to facilitate six-week in-school groups with children who would not otherwise have access to a center or grief resources.

Healing Patch Volunteers –To recognize sewing and Cambria and Blair group volunteers.

Home Health

Home Health CPR/First Aid Infant Mannequins – To purchase four new infant mannequins for the use of training CPR and Choking in infants for all staff who are required by their position to maintain CPR
certification.

Home Health Emergency Fund – To provide funds for local Home Health patients and their families who have need beyond normal circumstances and need assistance to purchase life’s basic necessities, i.e. nutritional supplements, bathing/safety aides, bedding, and emergency medications.

Home Health Hospitalization Prevention Tools – To fund devices to facilitate self/home monitoring of health conditions and increased use of telehealth, including but not limited to blood pressure cuffs, scales, incentive spirometers, and pulse oximeters.

Early Intervention

Early Intervention - To provide feeding equipment, communication boards, developmental/therapeutic materials educational and safety items, including more costly equipment such as an adapted walker and stander to accommodate clients with multiple disabilities.

WIC (Women, Infants, and Children)

WIC Diaper/Training Pants Distribution - To incentivize continuing in the WIC program after a child turns 1 or 2 years old, as this is a critical time of growth and development.

Critical Needs

Critical Need Funding – To cover any critical need for which no formal Grant request had been made or insufficient dollars had been approved. This allocation will be at the discretion of the Grants Committee.