Health

United Way of Hernando County's Healthy Community Initiative

Bridging the Distance Between People and Care

Focus Areas

  • MENTAL HEALTH & CRISIS PREVENTION
    Given the many obstacles to accessible care, resilient communities are the ones who prioritize mental health and emotional well-being. United Way works hard to break stigma, preventing crisis and helping individuals regain independence by collaborating to expand access to comprehensive resources, support services, and life saving education.
     
  • ADAPTIVE SUPPORT SERVICES
    Preventable health risks can become life threatening for families when access to quality care is not obtainable. By investing in community-led solutions, United Way helps build strong, healthy foundations of support services for people living with disabilities (physical, intellectual, developmental).
     
  • NUTRITION & FOOD SECURITY
    When families struggle to put food on the table, it affects every aspect of their lives. United Way addresses the root causes of food insecurity to help make nutrition accessible and a reality for all. United Way works to eliminate barriers to ensure access to groceries, because no one should have to choose between healthy meals and monthly bills.

Health Outreach Initiative Programs & Supported Partnerships

  1. Dementia Care Support Groups
  2. SingleCare: Discount Prescription Card
  3. Hernando Cares Behavioral Health Resource Guide
  4. CHIPP (Community Health Improvement Plan Partnership)
  5. Great Hernando Weight Loss & Wellness Challenge 
  6. Florida KidCare: Low Cost Children's Health Insurance
  7. Summer BreakSpot: Free Meals While School's Out

United Way Partner Programs

Health Facts

  • More than 33% of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. That’s 25 million kids and teenagers.
  • Children with health coverage are better prepared to learn in school and succeed in life.*1
  • The number of Americans without health insurance has increased steadily since the beginning of the century, now totaling about 47 million. More than 80% are working families.*2
  • 8.7 million children live without health insurance – more than the total number enrolled in the first and second grades in U.S. public schools.*3

*1-Institute of Medicine. From Neurons to Neighborhood: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Washington DC: National Academies Press.)
*2-Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates from the March Current Population Survey, Supplement.
*3-Compiled by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), University of Minnesota School of Public Health, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey 2007.