Dearborn Community Foundation Grant Brings Medical Care For Underserved Residents

The foundation is marking its 20th anniversary this year by awarding proactive grants.

Dearborn Community Foundation Board member Mark Neff, left, delivers a $1,000 grant check to Volunteers in Medicine of Dearborn, Ohio and Switzerland Counties Clinic (VIMDOS) President Lori Grubbs. The DCF grant monies are helping VIMDOS provide quality medical care for underserved residents of the three Southeastern Indiana counties. Photo provided.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – The Dearborn Community Foundation (DCF), Inc. recently awarded a $1,000 Lauren Hill Make A Difference Grant to the Volunteers in Medicine of Dearborn, Ohio and Switzerland Counties Clinic (VIMDOS Clinic) to provide access to quality medical care for underserved residents.

As a part of its 20th Anniversary Celebration, DCF is awarding 20 proactive grants of $1,000 each to charitable organizations in Dearborn County throughout 2018. Each of the Foundation’s 15 volunteer Board members is recommending a grant. Five lucky attendees at DCF’s 20th Anniversary Dinner in late July also were randomly drawn to recommend a $1,000 grant.

The $1,000 grant to the VIMDOS Clinic, located in Aurora, was recommended by DCF Board member Mark Neff of Aurora. Neff says he recommended the grant to VIMDOS in part due to his previous experience serving as a founding member of the board of directors for the East Indiana Area Health Education Center (AHEC).

AHEC is about connecting students to careers, professionals to communities, and communities to better health by supporting community-based learning for students and health professionals, Neff said. “I learned through AHEC of the real need for services at low or no cost for the underserved residents in our community,” he said. “The VIMDOS Clinic is here to provide those type of medical services, so it made sense to support its efforts.”

VIMDOS’ mission is to “provide access to quality medical care at no cost to underserved Dearborn, Ohio and Switzerland county residents, in a private, community-based clinic, staff by volunteer professionals and marked by a unique atmosphere of caring, compassion, respect, dignity and diversity.”

For 20 years, DCF, a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt public charity, has helped donors’ dreams come true by safeguarding endowments for the community through contributions large and small. Grants awarded by the Dearborn Community Foundation support the needs and interests in Dearborn County in the fields of Art, Culture and Humanities, Community and Public Benefit, Education, Environment and Animal Protection, Human Services, Public Safety and Youth Programs.

In January 2009, DCF received the nation’s highest philanthropic standards for operational quality, integrity and accountability: the seal of approval from the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations Program operated by the Council on Foundations (COF), a national professional association based in Washington, D.C. DCF was reconfirmed for the National Standards by the COF in 2014.

To learn more about DCF, call 812-539-4115, stop by the office at 322 Walnut Street in Lawrenceburg, or visit the Foundation website at www.dearborncf.org. If you are interested in making a contribution to DCF, visit our website’s “Give Now” page to donate on line and to learn other giving options.