MEDIA CONTACT

Sarah Gonet

Vice President of Development

508-944-6096/sarahgonet@bamsi.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BAMSI Receives $10,000 Grant from Connection, Health & Equity Through Food (CHEF)

BROCKTON, MA (September 13, 2024) – BAMSI is proud to announce that Connection, Health & Equity Through Food (CHEF), funded by Hannaford Supermarkets and administered by the Maine Council on Aging, has donated $10,000 to BAMSI.

The funding will support the translation of materials regularly used in our Dorn Davies Senior Center (DDSC). DDSC’s population includes elders with severe disabilities, with Alzheimer’s disease or other related disorders, and limited English-speaking ability. Thus, many of the older adults DDSC serves experience language barriers, exacerbating the housing insecurity, food insecurity, and social isolation they face, and hindering their access to quality care.

In staying true to our mission to meet each person where they are to help them learn, grow, and thrive, there is a critical need to provide our informational materials in our clients’ primary languages.

This grant will support the translation of documents regularly used across DDSC’s programs into four languages commonly spoken by individuals served, including Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, Brazilian Portuguese, and South American Spanish. This one-time project will have a long-lasting impact, as these materials will be used for years to come.

This project is a part of an agency-wide initiative to enhance BAMSI’s compliance with the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS), a set of 15 steps intended to advance health equity, improve quality, and help eliminate health care disparities. By enhancing our adherence to National CLAS Standards, BAMSI is working to ensure we provide culturally responsive services and care for the racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities we serve.

Furthermore, the agency-wide CLAS initiative this translation project is a part of is incorporated into BAMSI’s strategic plan as well as BAMSI’s long-term Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA) Plan.

In addition to assisting BAMSI in moving one step closer to meeting the CLAS Standards, this project will effectively increase the DDSC’s capacity to meet elders in their most comfortable settings, access diverse individuals, meet more individuals’ needs, and ultimately improve health and wellbeing outcomes for approximately 2,077 underserved elders.

About BAMSI:

BAMSI is a private 501c3 nonprofit human service organization that helps people live more independent and healthful lives by providing a comprehensive network of services addressing developmental and intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and substance use, and the social determinants of health such as housing and nutrition. This past year, over 50,000 individuals and families across five Massachusetts counties received personalized care from one of BAMSI’s nearly 1,600 dedicated and compassionate employees.