Ronald McDonald House Charities Awards Global Grants OAK

OAK BROOK, IL --(Marketwired - July 27, 2017) - Beginning in 2017 and throughout 2020, the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Global Grants Program will focus on oral health needs of children ages 0 to 6 in the U.S., and on reducing maternal and child mortality in the first six months of life in Africa, South Asia and Latin America in order to make a measurable impact on the health and well-being of children in areas where RMHC Chapter presence is not yet built or to expand upon existing core programs.

"RMHC is pleased to further our impact through grants to these organizations for their efforts to make a positive and immediate impact on children and families in the areas of pediatric oral health and reduction of neonatal and maternal mortality," said Sheila Musolino, president and chief executive officer, RMHC. "We have been working with these organizations for many years now and together, we have helped create an infrastructure for children and women to have access to health care services they so desperately need. With this new commitment, we look forward to further collaboration, learning and sharing with these outstanding organizations, while achieving meaningful and sustainable change for children and their families."

The following four nonprofit organizations have been selected to receive RMHC Global Grants:

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) -- South Africa

RMHC Global will be supporting this program designed to reduce neonatal and maternal mortality in the Eastern Cape (South Africa) by delivering a holistic training approach that focuses on high quality care of the mother and neonate at the healthcare facility and during transportation. The model includes training front-line health workers, developing and implementing an ongoing mentorship program that will provide technical assistance, onsite practice, training and evaluation support, and emergency transportation to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and potentially mortality.

Andean Health and Development (AHD) -- Latin America

Building on prior RMHC funding that markedly expanded Andean Health's rural family physician residency program and created a medical simulation center, this new RMHC-supported program will create a self-sustaining, public-private system to strengthen maternal and newborn health services in Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Ecuador, and its surrounding provinces. Andean Health and Development will connect four existing public and eight existing private rural facilities led by AHD residency program graduates, strengthen services at those sites through traditional Community Health Workers hired to facilitate access to quality prenatal care and provide education to women and their families about pregnancy and warning signs of complications; establish telemedicine infrastructure with the 12 partner organizations, develop a triage system, and expand capacity of Hesburgh Hospital.

Curamericas Global -- Africa and Latin America

RMHC funds will support a program designed to scale-up the organization's "Casa Materna" model for reducing maternal/neonatal mortality and child stunting in high-mortality regions of Guatemala. RMHC has previously funded this model that constructs culturally appropriate, locally accessible, fully equipped, community-owned obstetric facilities and builds capacity of paid front-line indigenous health works to provide quality routine and emergency obstetric care and malnutrition screening and counseling. The grant will also further build capacity of the organization's program in Sierra Leone and help it expand to a new area in Kenya.

Lwala Community Alliance -- Africa

RMHC Global Grant funding will help expand the community-led health model developed with previous RMHC support. After achieving a 64% reduction in under-5 mortality and 97% facility delivery rate, Lwala was asked by the Kenyan Ministry of Health to expand its model throughout Migori County in Kenya. The RMHC grant will fund the expansion of the model to serve another 1 million people in government facilities, imbed the community-led health structures within the Kenyan healthcare system and drastically reduce maternal and child mortality. To do so, Lwala will expand the Community Health Workers program, deploy certain devices to reduce post-partum hemorrhaging and train clinicians across nine facilities on neonatal recitation and care protocol.

RMHC Global remains committed to its relationship with Oral Health America (OHA) with a three-year grant focused on the pediatric oral health needs of the youngest and most vulnerable population of children aged 0 to 6. By partnering with OHA, RMHC aims to increase access to and utilization of care by providing communities with resources for oral disease prevention; provide education and best-practice sharing through direct and indirect channels of communication, including online and social media, service providers in community-based settings, oral health and population-based membership organizations, and government agencies; and support policies that prioritize oral health as a key asset in achieving overall health.

Over the past 25 years, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) has awarded more than $100 million in funding through its Global Grants Program to nonprofits to extend its reach and impact on children's health and well-being worldwide.

ABOUT RONALD McDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES ^®

Ronald McDonald House Charities ^® (RMHC ^® ), is a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) corporation that creates, finds, and supports programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children and their families. Through its global network of nearly 290 Chapters in more than 64 countries and regions, and its three core programs: the Ronald McDonald House ^® , the Ronald McDonald Family Room ^® and the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile ^® , keeps families with sick children close to each other and the medical care their child needs at leading hospitals worldwide. RMHC programs not only provide access to quality health care, they enable family-centered care ensuring families are fully supported and actively involved in their children's care. For more information, visit rmhc.org .