By SDCN Editor
San Diego, CA–Mama’s Kitchen is among the awardees who received a Direct Relief grant, which mobilizes financial resources for organizations focused on non-clinical interventions that affect a person’s health.
“Mama’s Kitchen is honored to receive this transformative grant from Direct Relief. These funds will allow us to expand access to our medically tailored meal services, increasing health equity for critically ill San Diegans,” said Eva Matthews, CEO of Mama’s Kitchen’s.
The demand for nutrition services has surged by 120% over the past four years. This year, the food service expects to deliver over 950,000 medically tailored meals. Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity grant will allow the nonprofit organization to continue to meet this growing community need and decrease barriers to healthy nutrition.
Mama’s Kitchen serves populations that are disproportionately affected by critical illness and malnutrition. The $255,000 grant supports Mama’s Kitchen’s work increasing access to healthy nutrition for critically ill community members through its medically tailored meal delivery service.
“This latest round of more than $8 million in grants, made possible by generous support from MacKenzie Scott, the AbbVie Foundation, and Eli Lilly and Company, is the most recent infusion of funding for organizations deeply committed to eliminating health disparities and improving healthcare quality in their communities,” said Dr. Byron Scott, CEO of Direct Relief and co-chair of the Fund for Health Equity.
The awardees were selected by the Fund for Health Equity’s Advisory Council, which includes the following members:
Co-Chair Regina Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A., 18th US Surgeon General of the United States, Founder Bayou Clinic, Inc.
Co-Chair Byron Scott, M.D., M.B.A., CEO of Direct Relief
Martha Dawson, DNP, MSN, RN, FACHE, president and CEO, president of the National Black Nurses Association, Associate Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
Jane Delgado, Ph.D., MS, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health
Gail Small, J.D., Head Chief Woman, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe
“We are pleased to support Mama’s Kitchen and other grassroots organizations dedicated to advancing health equity and addressing disparities in underserved communities across the United States,” said Dr. Scott.
Now entering its 35th year of operation, Mama’s Kitchen is San Diego’s largest nonprofit provider of delivered meals and the city’s only accredited provider of medically tailored meals. The organization delivers medically tailored meals to individuals and families with a variety of critical illnesses, including HIV, cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. To learn more about Mama’s Kitchen, visit mamaskitchen.org.
