McCormick Foundation, Major League Baseball Announces Final Grants for Welcome Back Veterans

News provided by

Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Jan 10, 2019, 08:00 ET

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Robert R. McCormick Foundation, in partnership with Major League Baseball, awarded the final round of grants from the Welcome Back Veterans (WBV) initiative totaling nearly $1.8 million dollars. WBV supports the behavioral health needs of America's veterans, service members and their families through high quality evidence-based care, family support and education, peer support and connection to resources, and training the behavioral health workforce.  The program was launched in 2008 by Major League Baseball and the McCormick Foundation.

Since its inception, WBV has awarded more than $30 million to support returning service members, veterans, and militaries families. During this period, the initiative funded a national network of Centers of Excellence across a total of seven academic medical centers with the goal of expanding access and improving the quality of community-based mental health care for veterans and their families.

"The Welcome Back Veterans initiative has helped to enhance and expand the network of mental health care provided to veterans as they make the transition home from service," said Don Cooke, Senior Vice President at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. "The success of this public/private partnership serves as a model for organizations seeking to improve the lives of veterans, servicemembers, and military families."

Over the last ten years, Welcome Back Veterans served more than 10,000 veterans, service members and their families and trained close to 30,000 clinicians to better meet the needs of the veteran and military community.

"We have been proud to work alongside the McCormick Foundation over the last decade to provide veterans, service members and families with assistance for some of their greatest needs," said Melanie LeGrande, Vice President of Social Responsibility, Major League Baseball. "It has been our sport's great honor to support these centers in their tireless work of supporting the individuals and families who have sacrificed so much for our country and society."

Here is the final list of grantee organizations for the WBV initiative:

1.

NYU Langone Medical Center/Cohen Military Family Clinic
To support the Dual Diagnosis program that provides support and treatment to veterans with co-occurring substances use and mental health issues.

 

$375,000

Over two years

2.

University of California Los Angeles/Nathanson Family Resilience Center 
To support the Peer Navigation program that trains veteran peer navigators to provide high-quality care to veterans, service members, and military families.

$375,000
Over two years

3.

Rush University/Road Home Program
To test peer navigation initiative, like UCLA's Peer Navigation program, in Chicago.

$100,000

Over two years

4.

Emory University/Emory Healthcare Veterans Program
To create a national advisory group who can train clinicians in local communities and create a series of high quality training videos for use across sites.

$375,000

Over one year

5.

Massachusetts General Hospital/Home Base
To support Home Base's training and assessment process that more accurately can rule out a traumatic brain injury or better assist clinicians in treatment planning for individuals.

$375,000

Over one year

6.

University of Michigan/Military Support Programs and Networks
To support the University's peer navigation program's strategic planning process.

$100,000
Over one year

7.

RAND Corporation
To support the implementation of the Training in Psychology tool, which was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of training for clinicians providing support to veterans and service members in community-based settings.

$85,000

Over one year

About the Robert R. McCormick Foundation 
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation works with communities in Chicagoland and across Illinois to develop educated, informed, and engaged citizens. Through philanthropic grantmaking and Cantigny Park, the Foundation works to make life better in Chicagoland. The McCormick Foundation, among the nation's largest foundations with more than $1.5 billion in assets, was established in 1955 upon the death of Col. Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. Find out more at www.mccormickfoundation.org.

About Major League Baseball Charities
Major League Baseball Charities is a not-for-profit corporation that provides support to local, national and international tax-exempt organizations to directly conduct or sponsor activities for the promotion of good health, physical education, public safety, medical research, literacy, educational or charitable purposes. In addition to supporting Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), the Official Charity of Major League Baseball, MLB Charities provides support to a number of other national charitable initiatives, including Stand Up To Cancer, Jackie Robinson Foundation, No Bully and the National Network to End Domestic Violence. The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball pays all administrative expenses for MLB Charities.

SOURCE Robert R. McCormick Foundation

Related Links

http://www.mccormickfoundation.org