Submitted by: Todd Loeb, Corporate Director of Administration and Communications, NHS Human Services
In spite of the changing landscape for public funding and ongoing cuts to federal and state budgets, NHS Human Services continues to maintain our mission: to support the unique needs of individuals we serve. In order to provide additional support for the NHS mission, the NHS Human Services Foundation was established as a separate nonprofit entity. The Foundation raises money through fundraisers, appeals, and individual giving to support NHS programs. Together with the Foundation, NHS has also been able to support community activities in different ways, going beyond our services, and helping to improve the neighborhoods where our consumers live and work.
The Foundation has raised $3.3 million in the last three years and has worked with NHS staff and supporters to create opportunities to give back to our communities. Some of these opportunities include partnering with Pacifico Marple Ford in Newtown Square Pennsylvania to distribute new winter coats to young people in Delaware County; hosting an annual hockey game, in conjunction with Lintons Managed Services in East Norriton, featuring the Flyers Legends raising $83,000 in 2013 for various Foundation projects; supporting the daily operations of NHS school to provide specialized educational services to children with autism and other special needs; and partnering with Sheets convenience stores to provide lunches to many students who otherwise may not receive healthy meals.
In the Philadelphia area, the Philadelphia Advisory Group, made up of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who receive care through NHS, participate in several programs where they have an opportunity to give back to their own communities. They support Aid for Friends, a nonprofit that provides meals to the frail, elderly, and homebound. By assembling breakfast bags that contain food items and personal cards, the group provides love and cheer to individuals receiving these bags. The largest group of contributors to the Foundation and the community is NHS staff. Every year, NHS employees run several fundraisers to support the Foundation. In addition, through payroll deductions, NHS staff contributed more than $1.1 million dollars in the last ten years that have been used to install playgrounds at two locations for children in NHS programs as well as provide scholarships for NHS consumers to receive post-secondary education and training.
As one of the original mental health base service units in Philadelphia, and the largest provider of community-based nonprofit human services, NHS has a long history of community involvement. Today, NHS provides services to 50,000 adults and children in seven states who deal with mental health and addictions issues and live with intellectual and developmental disabilities. NHS serves some of the most vulnerable individuals in our communities, most of who are uninsured or underinsured. For more than 40 years, NHS has been the safety net for people who might not otherwise receive important care and treatment.
For more information about NHS or the NHS Human Services Foundation, please visit our website at www.nhsonline.org or www.nhsonline.org/foundation.
