Pillars Community Health
A Shared Commitment to Collaboration
Pillars Community Health is nonprofit provider of health and social services that includes a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), as well as Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services and Domestic and Sexual Violence Services. CMF has supported Pillars Community Heath (through its predecessor organizations) since the Foundation’s inception.
Here are some highlights from our interview with Angela Curran, President and CEO of Pillars Community Health.
Talk about your mission. How has the Foundation’s support helped move your mission forward?
Pillars Community Health provides health, social and educational services to build strong, healthy communities. Our partnership with Community Memorial Foundation extends to nearly every facet of our organization: our programs, our people, our infrastructure — and all of it in service to our mission. By providing program support, technical assistance and leadership development, the Foundation has better positioned our organization to deliver integrated health care at the highest level.
How has Pillars Community Health responded to the unique challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak?
We’ve continued all of our services amid the coronavirus pandemic, innovating to address the current need. We have coronavirus testing available at our Health Center in La Grange and the Stickney Public Health District, while continuing to offer medical and dental visits both virtually and in-office.
In Behavioral Health, we are offering virtual visits with our mental health and substance use disorder clinicians and introduced a COVID Coping Help Line (708-995-3898); we are also the local contact for Illinois’ Call4Calm Text Line. Our Domestic and Sexual Violence Services continue to offer 24-hour hotline support, shelter services (moved offsite for social distancing), and in-person court and medical advocacy.
What is the Community Healthcare Network? How has it impacted the lives of our neighbors and improved health outcomes?
The Community Healthcare Network of the Western Suburbs launched in 2009 on the idea that no neighbor should have to leave our community to find high-quality healthcare. CMF’s longtime support of the Network provides a continuum of medical and mental health services for thousands of low-income and uninsured adults who have used the program throughout the past 10 years. Thanks to our partnership with local specialists and AMITA Adventist La Grange Hospital, Network patients receive appropriate primary and specialty care, and utilize the ER at about 1/4 the rate of uninsured adults nationally
What does it mean to partner with the Foundation?
CMF is so much more than a funding partner; it is a convener of community partners. By partnering with other Foundation grantees like Aging Care Connections, BEDS Plus, The LeaderShop and NAMI Metro Suburban, we are collectively working to create the healthiest region. Pillars Community Health shares the Foundation’s commitment to collaboration and the belief that we cannot improve the health of our communities alone.
Describe the Foundation in three words.
Innovative. Collaborative. Supportive.
All photos were taken prior to assuming social distancing measures.