Community needs and strategy are at the heart of the Central Benefits Health Care Foundation (CBHCF). But at the end of the day, it’s all about providing the opportunity for healthy kids to become healthy adults.
The foundation, established by Central Benefits Mutual Insurance Company in 1997 as a Supporting Foundation of The Columbus Foundation, focuses its grantmaking on the preventative healthcare needs of children, prenatal through age six.
We are putting our money at the front end and hopefully preventing disease and disability.
— Antoinette Parisi Eaton, M.D., founding member of CBHCF, and current president of the board
“When we started as a board, one of the first things we did was hold a symposium at Nationwide Children’s Hospital with community leaders and others to really focus our attention on what the major community needs might be,” Dr. Eaton said.
This community involvement has continued with additional forums seeking input and expertise from others as community needs have evolved.
From inception through December 31, 2015, CBHCF invested more than $4.5 million in programs, including those focused on developing safe play areas, health and nutrition education, reducing dental caries in high-risk youth, and more. In response to the astounding statistics on the high incidence of infant mortality in our community, CBHCF awarded grants to Columbus Public Health to support the Franklin County Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Program and a Safe Sleep Campaign.
“I think the future is bright for the Central Benefits Health Care Foundation,” Dr. Eaton said. “We continue to have a strong, committed board that really wants to look, in an organized fashion, at what the community needs are and make the best judgement about what priorities ought to be funded.”