With $240,000 in Grants from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and the Hagerman Foundation
FLINT – Hurley Medical Center, in partnership with NYU Langone Health and Michigan State University’s Pediatric Public Health Initiative (PPHI), has launched the Video Interaction Project (VIP) at Hurley Children’s Clinic in Flint, located at 300 E. First Street. VIP is an evidence-based parenting program that uses pediatric health care, videotaping and developmentally-appropriate toys, books and resources to help parents to engage in activities such as pretend play, shared reading, and daily routines as opportunities for strengthening early development and literacy in their children. Enhancing parent-child interactions and early child development gives at-risk children increased opportunities for achievement and success in school and in life.
Hurley has received a $140,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint as well as a $100,000 grant from The Hagerman Foundation to launch the program.
PPHI is a joint initiative between Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital and has a vision to build a model public health program to mitigate the impact of the Flint Water Crisis and to improve outcomes of Flint children through community and clinical programs, childhood health policy and advocacy, and research. “As an organization, it is our goal to do everything we can to reduce the developmental impact the water crisis may have had on the children in Flint,” said Dr. Lauren O’Connell, a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician at Hurley who is leading the VIP initiative in Flint and is also a member of PPHI.
VIP was developed by Dr. Alan Mendelsohn and colleagues in the Department of Pediatrics at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone and has been delivered and researched since 1999 in New York City through work supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Children of Bellevue and other funders in order to address the disparities in development, school readiness and educational achievement between children living in poverty and middle-high income families. “VIP is designed to encourage critical interactions between parents and children through playing or reading by providing parents with one-on-one sessions with a parenting coach during their routine pediatric check-ups in infancy, when babies’ brains are developing rapidly,” said Dr. Mendelsohn, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Population Health at NYU Langone. “We are thrilled to partner with Hurley to bring VIP to the children and families in Flint.” VIP began at Hurley in the fall of 2017 and will ultimately serve up to 300 young children who are receiving pediatric care at Hurley Children’s Hospital. For more information, visit videointeractionproject.org.
Hurley Children’s Hospital, located within Hurley Medical Center, is the premier pediatric medical facility in the region, delivering the latest technologies and today’s most innovative treatments, eliminating the need for families to travel far from home for specialized services. “Hurley Children’s Center – Sumathi Mukkamala Children’s Center” serves as the home for many of the research and clinical efforts to mitigate the impact of lead in our children and those intended to reduce the inequities in economic and health outcomes related to poverty. The Center features pediatric primary care and specialty care for patients in Genesee County – regardless of need.
The Hurley Foundation is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization launched in 1993 that supports Hurley’s commitment to clinical excellence and mission, engaging donors and volunteers to contribute resources for hospital programs and initiatives. The Hurley Foundation raises money and useful items, recruits volunteers and builds awareness to support patients and patient families that might not otherwise receive it.
The Community Foundation of Greater Flint is a tax-exempt public charity created by and for the people of Genesee County. CFGF enables people with philanthropic interests to easily and effectively support the issues they care about by investing the assets of its community of donors are then carefully invested by the foundation thereby helping individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations to achieve their charitable and financial goals. CFGF is dedicated to connecting people who care to the causes that matter to them and the community … For good. For ever. Visit cfgf.org.
The Hagerman Foundation, led by Phil and Jocelyn Hagerman, is dedicated to empowering people by creating relationships that promote impact for good. They support charitable organizations that demonstrate a strong connection between their missions, programs, and/or projects including those that promote the development and education of youth from early childhood through adulthood. Visit thehagermanfoundation.org.
