By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU) – The Queen’s Medical Center (QMC) has been selected as one of 11 health sites serving Native communities in six states to continue a public health initiative set forth by the Futures Without Violence, in partnership with the Office on Women’s Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OWH), and designed to improve the health and safety of women and children.
Project Connect: A Coordinated Public Health Initiative to Prevent Violence Against Women is supported by OWH and funded through the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2005.
The selected grantees include:
- Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Idaho Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
- Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians (Michigan)
- Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women
- Nooksack Tribal Health Clinic (Washington)
- Oregon Health Authority
- Passamaquoddy Health Center (Maine)
- Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- The Queen’s Medical Center (Hawaii)
- Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California (Nevada)
“We would like to congratulate the 11 sites that have been selected to participate in the second phase ofProject Connect,” said Esta Soler, founder and president of Futures Without Violence. “The health system is uniquely positioned to identify and help victims of violence, and these clinics, coalitions, states, and organizations all play a crucial role in breaking the cycle of violence and combating abuse.”
Project Connect is a national initiative to change how adolescent health, reproductive health, and Native health services respond to sexual and domestic violence. Research demonstrates that programs like Project Connect can help improve maternal and adolescent health, and decrease the risks for unplanned pregnancy, poor pregnancy outcomes, and further abuse.
“Project Connect is one of the only programs providing a national, coordinated public health model to improve the health response to domestic and sexual violence,” said Nancy C. Lee, MD, deputy assistant secretary for Health-Women’s Health. “We’re proud to continue our collaboration with Futures Without Violence on this groundbreaking and transformative initiative.”
Futures Without Violence, in collaboration with OWH, will provide technical assistance and monitor the grantees selected for Project Connect. The eleven grantees were selected through a competitive process and will be awarded funds over three years for implementation.
Project Connect grantees are committed to providing innovative, effective, and culturally-relevant services to traditionally underserved communities. The QMC Native Hawaiian Health Program, in partnership with the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC), will be reviewing ways to effectively address the Native Hawaiian community with the healthcare context. Diane Paloma, Director of the Native Hawaiian Health Program and Nanci Kriedman, Executive Director of the DVAC are committed to finding solutions in healthcare toward this traditionally social/legal domain.