Watsonville Charity Awarded $100K From Kaiser Permanente

WATSONVILLE, CA — Kaiser Permanente provided a $100,000 grant to help the families of children suffering from serious illness.

On June 7, Kaiser provided the grant to Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services at its Watsonville headquarters. The organization provides bilingual and bicultural grief support to more than 1,000 families in Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Clara counties. The groups ensure that “people from all backgrounds and experiences will be able to access culturally-responsive mental health care when they need it most,” according to a Kaiser news release.

“We’re grateful to be working with Kaiser Permanente to provide more
emotional support to children and their families,” Heidi Boynton, executive director of Jacob’s Heart Cancer Support Services, said in a statement. “At Jacob’s Heart, we envision a community where every child with cancer or in remission from cancer has a strong, supported, and informed family empowered to fully participate in their care.”

“We are proud to support the ongoing work of Jacob’s Heart, which provides
families in Monterey County with the compassionate care they need as they
navigate through difficult situations,” Irene Chavez, senior vice president and manager of Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Cruz County area, said in a statement. “We believe the family-centered approach to care Jacob’s Heart provides to families will give them the resources, tools and support they need during what can be an extremely challenging time.”