Trinity Health Invests $500,000 to Expand U.S. Soccer Foundation's Soccer for Success Program
Washington, DC (PRWEB) September 15, 2016 -- Trinity Health and the U.S. Soccer Foundation announced a new partnership today that will expand sports-based health and wellness programming proven to positively impact children’s health and youth development in underserved communities.
Trinity Health will invest $500,000 to expand Soccer for Success – the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s mentoring program that teaches kids in underserved communities the fundamentals of soccer while striving to help them establish healthy habits and develop critical life skills. The investment is part of Trinity Health's Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI), focusing on programs for vulnerable populations that impact tobacco use and obesity, leading drivers of preventable chronic disease and high health care costs in the United States. The TCI is one of many Trinity Health community health and well-being initiatives aimed at achieving better health, better care and lower costs.
Community organizations in select communities across Trinity Health’s network can apply for a grant to implement the program. Organizations that wish to apply for a grant must complete an online application no later than October 27, 2016. The application can be found at http://ussoccerfoundation.org/grants/trinity-health.
Soccer for Success addresses risk factors associated with living in underserved communities, such as obesity and juvenile delinquency. The program—which typically operates three days a week for at least 24 weeks during the academic year—is run by trained coach-mentors who ensure that kids are physically active for the recommended 60 minutes and provide nutrition education and information on healthy lifestyles through unique soccer activities.
"Trinity Health is committed to improving the health of the communities we serve. Soccer for Success allows our ministries to positively influence the lives of youth by providing an opportunity to be active and develop life-long wellness habits," said Bechara Choucair, M.D., senior vice president, Safety Net and Community Health at Trinity Health.
“We are thrilled to partner with Trinity Health to enable more children to have access to soccer programming and caring coach-mentors who can help them reach their full potential,” said Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. “This program not only teaches the fundamentals of soccer, but can improve children’s health and help them gain critical life skills that are needed for success.”
Recent independent studies found that Soccer for Success significantly improves health while also promoting positive attitudes toward teamwork, self-efficacy, gang resistance and school attitudes among participants. Specifically, one evaluation found that the program improves the BMI percentile, aerobic capacity and waist circumference size of participating children. These results are significantly better when compared to the health measurements of non-participating children.
Since the program’s inception, the Soccer for Success program has become a national movement serving more than 71,000 children in more than 130 cities.
More information about the grant application process can be found at http://ussoccerfoundation.org/grants/trinity-health.
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest multi-institutional Catholic health care delivery systems in the nation. It serves people and communities in 22 states with 93 hospitals, 120 continuing care locations — including home care, hospice, PACE and senior living facilities — that provide nearly 2.5 million visits annually. Based in Livonia, Mich., and with annual operating revenues of $15.9 billion and assets of $23.4 billion, the organization returns about $1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. Trinity Health employs about 95,000 full-time employees, including 5,300 employed physicians. Committed to those who are poor and underserved in its communities, Trinity Health is known for its focus on the country's aging population. As a single, unified ministry, the organization is the innovator of Senior Emergency Departments, the largest not-for-profit provider of home health care services — ranked by number of visits — in the nation, as well as the nation’s leading provider of PACE (Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly) based on the number of available programs. For more information, visit http://www.trinity-health.org. You can also follow @TrinityHealthMI on Twitter.
About the U.S. Soccer Foundation
The U.S. Soccer Foundation’s programs are the national model for sports-based youth development in underserved communities. Since its founding in 1994, the Foundation has established programs proven to help children embrace an active and healthy lifestyle while nurturing their personal growth beyond sports. Its cost-effective, high-impact initiatives offer safe environments where kids and communities thrive. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Soccer Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, visit http://www.ussoccerfoundation.org or follow us on Twitter at @ussoccerfndn and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ussoccerfoundation.
Eve Pidgeon, Trinity Health, http://www.trinity-health.org, +1 734-343-1270, [email protected]
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