S.C. BlueCross Foundation Funds The Benefit Bank Start-up as Part of $5.7 Million in Grants Awarded Statewide in 2009

COLUMBIA, SC – December 21, 2009 – The BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation recently approved grant applications totaling $4.18 million for programs in South Carolina, bringing its total for 2009 to $5.7 million.
 
Since the Foundation was established in 2003, it has granted more than $28.1 million to address such issues as childhood health, community health, the increasing need for free medical clinics, mental health, obesity, diabetes, nursing and research – all to organizations in South Carolina that serve South Carolinians.
 
The largest grant awarded this year was $2.3 million for the 2010 launch of The Benefit Bank of South Carolina (TBB-SC) by theSouth Carolina Office of Rural Health (SCORH). Headquartered in Lexington, S.C., the SCORH will start the program in select areas in January and plans to broaden it to every county by the end of the year. The BlueCross Foundation funds will cover the first year cost and set up of software.
 
TBB-SC helps low- and moderate-income people prepare their state and federal taxes and at the same time apply for all the government work support monies that are available to them. This is all done electronically through a Web-based system that eliminates the inefficiency and confusion that often keeps people from getting the supports they have earned.
 
Already underway in other states, TBB-SC is implemented by trained volunteers in such locations as places of worship, recreation centers, food pantries, and wherever people go to seek help in times of need. It helps government workers by giving them accurate, legible applications to process. It brings money into communities to boost their economies and create new jobs.
 
“This is the ultimate one-stop shop for people in need,” said Foundation Executive Director Harvey Galloway. “ TBB-SC will help people get the $500 million dollars left on the table each year in South Carolina – dollars allocated by the federal government for programs most people don’t know exist. We are excited to be funding its start-up and are eager to see the results.”
 
The Foundation decides on its grant awards twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. Other grant recipients from the latest round, decided in November, include the following:
 
Childhood Health
Charleston/Berkeley/Dorchester Counties – Carolina Youth Development Center – immediate access for children and youth to nursing services and medical and hygiene supplies.
 
Greenville County – S.C. Asthma Alliance – Pediatric Asthma Community Collaborative with the Greenville Hospital System, utilizing case management programs, asthma education, home visits and school visits for underinsured and uninsured children and adolescents.
 
Free Medical Clinics
Charleston County – Barrier Island Free Medical Clinic
Richland County – Columbia Oral Health Clinic
Greenville County – Greenville Free Medical Clinic
Oconee/Pickens/Greenville/Anderson Counties – Joseph F. Sullivan Wellness Center mobile unit
Chesterfield County – Mercy In Me Medical Clinic
Florence County – Mercy Medicine Clinic
Orangeburg – Calhoun Free Medical Clinic (Orangeburg, S.C.)
Charleston County – Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach
Edgefield and Saluda Counties – Peach Tree Medical Free Clinic
Presbyterian College – Creation of a Model Pharmacotherapy Service for the South Carolina Free Clinic Association, (COMPASSION)
Oconee County – Rosa Clark Free Medical Clinic Association
Spartanburg County – St. Luke’s Free Medical Clinic
Greenville County – Taylors Free Medical Clinic
Beaufort/Colleton/Hampton/Jasper Counties – Volunteers in Medicine Clinic (Hilton Head)
 
Mental Health
Spartanburg – Children’s Advocacy Center of Spartanburg – to provide additional hours of therapy for physically and sexually abused children.
 
Richland/Lexington Counties – Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. – HomeBase Program, to provide treatment and supportive services to uninsured and underinsured homeless individuals with mental illness, while making the transition from homelessness to permanent housing.
 
Obesity
Colleton County – South Carolina Eat Smart Move More Coalition (Irmo) – to implement a comprehensive three-year community action plan to promote healthy eating and physical activity in Walterboro/Colleton County area to serve as a model that could be replicated in other S.C. communities.
 
 
The grants are for periods of one to three years.

 
Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation (www.bcbsscfoundation.org) is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Its mission is to promote the health of South Carolinians and to expand access to health care for the economically disadvantaged by supporting integrated research, education and community service.