What We Fund

Healthy Children

Children and Youth

Good physical and mental health in childhood has lifelong benefits for individuals, families, and communities. To stay healthy, grow, and develop, children need to receive required immunizations, regular checkups, dental and vision care, and medical attention when they are injured or sick. Children with health insurance are more likely to receive healthcare and have better health throughout childhood and adolescence. Children also need nutritious food, safe and supportive environments, and opportunities for learning.

The result we seek is: Children and youth in La Porte County are healthy, safe, and can achieve their full potential.

Healthier Babies

HFL is committed to reducing infant mortality, preterm birth, and low birthweight in La Porte County.  In 2019, HFL established Partners for Healthier Babies (PHB), convening community partners to work together to deliver healthier moms and babies. Compared to both the Indiana state and national average, in 2019 La Porte County had one of the highest rates of infant mortality. Strategies were formulated from analyzing hospital data, mapping services currently offered, identifying service gaps, speaking to patients, and researching best practices. Strategies include:

• Improve the health of women before, during, and beyond pregnancy.
• Ensure access to a continuum of safe and high-quality pre-natal care in the first trimester.
• Implement key evidence-based preventative programs that directly impact infant mortality, preterm birth, and low birth weight.
• Integrate clinical care and community-based organizations providing connections to support and resources.
• Improve sleep-related death prevention education for providers and families, specifically focusing on the factors that significantly increase the risk of unsafe sleep related infant deaths.

PHB works to address the social, behavioral, and health risk factors that contribute to infant mortality, preterm birth, and low birthweight to make a positive impact on birth outcomes in La Porte County. These factors include late or no prenatal care, smoking during pregnancy, pre-conception obesity, hypertension, diabetes, pregnancy in adolescence, unsafe sleep practices, and many others.

Through Healthy Children and Partners for Healthier Babies, the result we seek is: Babies in La Porte County are born healthy and thrive.

Healthy Living

Poor nutrition, physical inactivity, unhealthy weight, lack of healthcare coverage, and where people live can lead to serious health risks and conditions, greater medical costs, financial hardship, and a lower quality of life. For this reason, HFL’s Healthy Living is focused on Healthy Eating and Active Living, Healthcare Access, and attainable housing.

Healthy Eating and Active Living

Obesity increases the risk of many health conditions and diseases, including heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, respiratory problems, cancer, and osteoarthritis. Maintaining a healthy weight helps to prevent and control these diseases, which are severe obstacles to a person’s ability to live a long and fulfilling life. Obesity also carries significant economic costs due to increased healthcare spending and lost earnings.

Access to healthy foods is a key component to healthy eating habits. Low-income and underserved areas often have limited access to healthy foods as stores selling healthy foods may not be located nearby, the stores may not accept various types of payment, there may not be reliable transportation to the store, and the foods may not be affordable or culturally familiar. Additionally, food insecurity, defined as limited availability or uncertain ability to access nutritionally adequate foods, is associated with chronic health problems including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and mental health conditions.

Through HFL’s Healthy Living priority, HFL is committed to helping La Porte County residents improve their physical health through regular physical activity, access to nutritious food, and healthy eating habits.

The result we seek is: La Porte County residents are physically active and eat nutritious foods.

Healthcare Access

Access to healthcare is fundamental to good health. Access can be limited by affordability, availability of providers and services, transportation, and acceptability among patients, among other factors.

Inadequate health insurance coverage is one of the biggest barriers to accessing healthcare. Health insurance protects people from unexpected, high medical costs, reducing financial strain on people and communities. It makes healthcare more affordable and accessible and is linked to improved productivity, better health outcomes, and lower death rates. People without health insurance are less likely to get the healthcare and medications that they need. They are less likely to get routine checkups and preventive screenings and are more likely to seek treatment once the condition is more advanced and more difficult to treat.

Transportation and provider shortages are other major barriers to healthcare access in the community. Additionally, hours of operation, the need to make appointments, and language limit access for many community members.

HFL is committed to improving access to healthcare in La Porte County.

The result we seek is: La Porte County residents can access the healthcare services and medications they need.

Attainable Housing

Housing and where people live influence all aspects of life, including health and safety, access to opportunity, economic mobility, and quality of life.

In 2022, Health Foundation of La Porte joined forces with the City of La Porte to assess current and future housing needs in the City of La Porte. HFL contracted SB Friedman, a real estate development advisory firm based in Chicago, to conduct an in-depth study and then prepare a detailed housing strategy for the City.

The study found that the City of La Porte–like many other communities throughout the country–is facing several housing-related challenges. These include a reduced supply of units in both the for-sale and the rental housing markets, underproduction of new housing in recent years, an aging housing stock, and a limited supply of workforce and rent-restricted housing and housing for people with special housing needs.

Building on the housing strategy, as well as the City of La Porte’s Heart of La Porte plan, HFL partnered with the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture’s Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative to conduct a Charrette. Through the Charrette, which is a type of study, a vision for the regeneration of downtown La Porte and an action plan to implement the vision were created.

Indicators for attainable housing are under consideration.

Healthy Minds

Mental health is a vital component of a person’s well-being and is connected to physical health. Mental health affects how we feel, think, and behave. Positive mental health allows people to handle stress, take care of their physical health, work productively, contribute to their communities, and realize their full potential.

The importance of mental health for a person’s overall health and well-being, and the negative effects of untreated mental illness and substance use disorder, including tobacco use, on individuals, families, and our community, has led HFL to identify Healthy Minds as a strategic priority. By supporting programs that focus on the prevention and treatment of mental health conditions, we can empower residents to live healthy and well in La Porte County.

For Healthy Minds, the result we seek is: La Porte County residents experience positive mental health and can access support and treatment for mental health conditions, including substance use disorder.

Healthy La Porte

Healthy La Porte grants meet community health and wellness needs that fall outside of HFL’s strategic priorities of Healthy Children, Healthy Living, and Healthy Minds and demonstrate a connection to HFL’s mission and vision. HFL accepts Healthy La Porte grant requests of $25,000 and under.

Our goals for Healthy La Porte grants are:

• Expand successful, existing programs that improve the health and wellness of La Porte County residents
• Test new, promising initiatives to meet health and wellness needs identified in La Porte County
• Collaborate to better meet health and wellness needs identified in La Porte County

When Seconds Count: AED Initiative

HFL accepts grant requests for our When Seconds Count: AED Initiative once per year beginning on February 14.

To date, HFL has awarded 254 AEDs to nonprofits, schools, and local government agencies. We have also awarded grants to local fire departments to assist those organizations in providing free CPR classes to the community. In total, HFL has invested $630,000 in AED and CPR-related grants since 2017.