Our Community

The VNA Foundation of Greater North Penn supports the same geographic region within Montgomery County, PA, that was originally served by the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater North Penn. That area is comprised of the boundaries of three school districts (North Penn, Souderton and Wissahickon) plus Worcester Township.

As the North Penn region continues to evolve, the VNA Foundation seeks to partner with nonprofit organizations that dedicate their efforts to improving the health and well-being of residents of North Penn. While some of our grant partners may serve a broader population, our foundation places priority on those organizations and programs focused on the North Penn region and addressing health access, collaboration, capacity building and basic health needs in our area.

Inclusion Grants: Enhancing Access for our Diverse Community

In 2021, the VNA Foundation launched Inclusion Grants, aimed at increasing access to health and human services for people of color, immigrants and refugees, and English Language Learners in the greater North Penn region. The Inclusion Grants were inspired by the health access inequities exposed (or exacerbated) by the “dual pandemics” of COVID-19 and racial injustice. Features of these grants included rolling application due-dates and decision-making, funding available for research to develop project ideas, ample technical assistance, and the option for multi-year support. To date, the VNA Foundation has committed grants of more than $640,000 to the Inclusion Grants program.

MAKING NORTH PENN COUNT

Supporting Census 2020
The VNA Foundation of Greater North Penn recognized that an undercount in Census 2020 would negatively impact public funding and vital programs necessary to support our quality of life in this North Penn region of Montgomery County. To ensure that nonprofit organizations could support efforts toward an accurate and complete count, especially within targeted, at-risk populations located in the North Penn region of Montgomery County, the VNA Foundation created a special Census Inclusion Grant program for our community.

Team Recognition Grants: A Tribute to Our Partners

When, in the summer of 2021, the VNAF had to cancel our in-person annual summer breakfast (the F. Lee Mangan CommUNITY Celebration) due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, we decided to use the money we would have spent on the breakfast event and divide it up among our 40+ current grantee partner agencies in the form of small Team Recognition grants to be used at their discretion to purchase a little treat for their hardworking teams. Our grantees got creative, using the mini-grants for everything from a team recognition lunch to a hybrid holiday party, providing much-needed bonding moments during an especially challenging time for nonprofit personnel.

Click on the arrow to learn more about VNAF Grant initiatives

Encouraging Collaboration In Our Community

The VNA Foundation recognizes that our grants can only accomplish part of our mission. By supporting efforts within North Penn that bring people together to share, learn and grow, our foundation can have a more meaningful impact. Some examples of this include:

Abington Dental Care Access Program

Through our signature initiative, the VNA Foundation continues to support the Abington Dental Care Access program, a collaborative effort between Abington Jefferson Health and the Montgomery-Bucks Dental Society. How it works: North Penn residents with little or no dental insurance can enroll in the Abington Dental Care Access program and be matched with a dentist practicing in their community, and the program underwrites much or all of the cost of their dental care. Learn more about the Dental Care Access program in our commemorative 5-year Anniversary Video.

Bucks-Mont Collaborative

For many years the VNA Foundation has supported the Bucks-Mont Collaborative, an association focused on forging partnerships and shared learning among both nonprofit and for-profit health and human service providers throughout our region. The VNAF supports the Collaborative through grant funds for its operations, its Racial Equity Learning Community partnership program, its educational workshops around Trauma, and its Annual Summit that brings hundreds of leaders and practitioners together.

Your Way Home Montgomery County

The VNA Foundation proudly supports Your Way Home Montgomery County, the county’s unified and coordinated housing crisis response system for families and individuals experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness. YWH is an example of a collaborative effort bringing together funders, the nonprofit sector, landlords, and government officials with a vision to make homelessness in Montgomery County rare, brief, and non-recurring.

MontcoPA COVID-19 Response Fund

No corner of our region or our world was spared the ravages of COVID-19, and when the pandemic arrived in Montgomery County, the VNA Foundation was one of the founding partners of the MontcoPA COVID-19 Response Fund, a collaborative effort that raised more than $800,000 to benefit nonprofit organizations serving vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 crisis.