The Lundquist Institute receives $100,000 from the Parsons Foundation to support the medical-financial partnership

Gift will directly fund the Benefits Explorer Tool (BET) to improve access to anti-poverty resources for low-income families

Grant and Award Announcement

THE LUNDQUIST INSTITUTE

 

IMAGE: MFP INCORPORATES A NEW WEB- AND PHONE-BASED TOOL, THE BENEFITS EXPLORER TOOL view more 

CREDIT: THE LUNDQUIST INSTITUTE

The Lundquist Institute announced today that it has received a $100,000 gift from the Parsons Foundation to support the Medical-Financial Partnership (MFP). The MFP addresses the health issues of poverty by investing in the financial capability and security of children and families from economically and socially marginalized communities. These are the same communities afflicted by the intertwined threats of racial economic exploitation and historical intergenerational trauma that drive deep inequities in long-term health outcomes. Funded through grants and private philanthropy, the MFP is at its core a health care innovation tailored to the needs of low-income families and focused on treating poverty as the pervasive health risk it is. 
The MFP incorporates a new web- and phone-based tool, the Benefits Explorer Tool (BET). The user-friendly BET is an outgrowth of the MFP’s four-year success of investing in the financial capability and security of children and families from economically and socially marginalized communities. The innovative approach of BET is designed to improve access more efficiently to public benefits and other anti-poverty resources for under-enrolled families.

"The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation is dedicated to improving the well-being of Los Angeles County residents. We are thrilled to support the Lundquist Institute's direct services offering personalized assistance that links underserved families to important financial resources and other public benefits that promote healthy lives," said Jennifer Price-Letscher, Parsons Foundation Interim President and CEO.

“We thank the Parsons Foundation for its generosity and vision in funding MFP’s BET tool,” said Lynne M. Smith, MD, Investigator at The Lundquist Institute and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. “This grant will help make it possible for our clinic to increase awareness and directly connect families whose children receive primary care to key public benefits during well child visits. This is a testament to the thoughtful care and planning that MFP placed into developing BET to ensure that it was both patient-centered and clinically transformative.”