Our partners encompass a variety of organizations dedicated to community care. This allows for a broader scope of aid that can benefit specific vulnerable groups of community members to address their overall social drivers of health needs.
At Community Health Network of Connecticut®, we work with other organizations that provide necessary care and support for members of their community.
Our partners encompass a variety of organizations dedicated to community care. This allows for a broader scope of aid that can benefit specific vulnerable groups of community members to address their overall social drivers of health needs.
The mission of the Connecticut Alliance of Foster and Adoptive Families (CAFAF) is to strengthen foster, adoptive, and kinship care families through support, training, and advocacy. CAFAF aims to ensure child safety, well-being, and stability in partnership with child welfare professionals and the community. CAFAF assists in communities that are committed to meeting the unique needs of foster and adoptive children and supporting their resource families. Lastly, their legislative advocacy tracks bills, legislation, and issues relevant to foster, adoptive, and relative caregivers. As part of our philanthropic efforts, CHNCT employees donate to CAFAF to help provide school supplies for school-aged children residing in foster care, as well as support a virtual toy drive. CAFAF uses these funds to distribute toys to children in need at their annual holiday gala.
Connecticut Foodshare supports individuals and families across the entire state by addressing root causes of food insecurity and hunger, creating long-term solutions to chronic food insecurity, and distributing nutritious food through local partner programs to alleviate hunger. The goal of Connecticut Foodshare is to help people achieve food security and economic mobility. By creating a network of 650 community-based programs, including food pantries, meal programs, and mobile distribution sites, over 40 million meals were provided to people across Connecticut last year. In addition to the collaboration with our community engagement HUB program, CHNCT employees volunteer at Connecticut Foodshare’s Wallingford warehouse throughout the year. They help with the sorting and packing of food items for deliveries to the community via the mobile food pantry program. Also, every fall, CHNCT employees help by making a monetary donation directly to Connecticut Foodshare via a virtual food drive. The money collected helps the foodbank provide quality food to those in need, especially during the holiday season.
The Diaper Bank of Connecticut fundraises for, and distributes infant and toddler diapers, youth and adult incontinence supplies, and period products to low-income families in Connecticut through food pantries, daycare centers, social service agencies, shelters, etc. Their long-term policy goal is to advocate for reform so that these supplies and products are included in the definition of, and provision for, the “basic human needs” of families. Since its founding in 2004, The Diaper Bank of Connecticut has distributed 33 million diapers to low-income families in need. CHNCT supports this important cause with a virtual diaper drive every spring.
Read to Grow’s mission is to promote language skills and literacy for children starting from birth, and to support parents as their babies’ first teachers. Read to Grow stresses the importance of early childhood literacy, encouraging parents to take an active role in their child’s reading development. Their goal is to ensure all children in Connecticut will have books of their own, to foster a lifelong love of reading. In the 20+ years Read to Grow has served the Connecticut community, over 2.3 million books have been donated, 34 Book Places have opened, and over 1.42 million people have benefitted from their programs. CHNCT partners with Read to Grow by distributing age-appropriate books in English and Spanish. The books are provided through Read to Grow’s Books for Kids program and given to families who visit one of our Community Health Workers (CHWs) at a HUB site, community event, or food pantry across the state.
Southwestern Area Health Education Center (AHEC) was established in 1998 as a center to serve southern Fairfield and New Haven counties to improve healthcare access through the training, recruitment, and retention of diverse health professionals who are committed to helping underserved populations. Their mission is to open doors to better health in underserved communities through education, outreach, and career opportunities. Southwestern AHEC aims to address the healthcare disparities that are prevalent across people of different races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses.
The Center has worked with CHNCT’s Community Health Worker Ambassador Program since fall 2019, offering the CHW Core Competency Training – a requirement for state certification through the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The training has prepared our CHWs in bridging the gap between the healthcare system and communities, serving as trusted liaisons, advocates, and providing culturally appropriate health information.