Kathy Burgoyne, Vice President of Comprehensive Health Education Foundation was pleased to announce that we have received $30,000 from the Employees Community Fund (ECF), in support of C.H.E.F®.’s Community Health Advocate Program at Salishan, in Tacoma, WA.

Salishan is the largest Tacoma Housing Authority community and the most racially diverse public housing community in the state. Our focus is on strengthening grass-roots health promotion initiatives and outreach, improving health education, building community and enabling residents to take advantage of available health resources.

With the active participation of the Salishan Community Association, Tacoma Housing Authority and others, we are hiring, training and supervising a team of community Health Advocates at Salishan. These community leaders, who already function as natural helpers within their cultural communities, will be able to provide health promotion services and information to other residents, helping them move away from high-cost hospital emergency rooms and toward healthier lives. This is the first year of a program that will eventually be established throughout Washington State.

The Employees Community Fund of Boeing Puget Sound is a unique employee-owned and directed giving program that allows employees to support the needs of their local communities via tax-deductible recurring payroll deductions or one-time gifts.

Boeing pays all administrative costs for ECF so that 100% of every employee dollar contributed goes to support the community. C.H.E.F. joins thousands of nonprofit organizations in Puget Sound that benefit from the $10 million of pooled fund dollars that generous employees contribute each year.

The Health Advocates Program is an important part of C.H.E.F.’s work and is, we believe, an essential tool to improving health and access to health care for our most vulnerable residents. We are grateful that Boeing ECF has joined with us in support of those whom we serve.