By Lois Thomson
“Super excited!” exclaimed Francis Afram-Gyening. And how can you blame him? Afram-Gyening is CEO of Camillus Health Concern (CHC), and he was describing his reaction to the $1.9 million gift CHC received from Yield Giving at the end of October.
CHC is a community health center located in Miami whose mission is to help men, women, and children in Miami-Dade County who are experiencing homelessness, by providing health care services, including primary care, behavioral health, oral health, and social services. Because of this work, and the organization’s stellar fiscal and organizational management, it was awarded the grant from Yield Giving, a foundation established by MacKenzie Scott to distribute a fortune that is described as having been created through the effort of countless people.
Afram-Gyening was surprised to learn about the award, saying, “We had no idea it was coming. We received a telephone call from one of the charitable trusts in Chicago, that a donor was trying to reach me. So when I connected with the staff of the Charitable Trust, they told me we had been chosen to get the $1.9 million donation.”
He went on to say that after the call, CHC received the award letter on October 17, “and by Friday, October 20, the money was already in our account; everything they said was right. We were elated.”
Evan Piper, Chairman of the Board of Directors, commented, “We are really excited to have received this unexpected donation and are looking forward to finding the best uses where our patients and those experiencing homelessness can benefit from this generous gift.”
Afram-Gyening augmented that by saying CHC was looking forward to using the funds to further the work that enabled them to receive the money. “We will continue our work to provide the very best care to each patient, that is our goal.” He explained in more detail what that would entail: “We provide some services to our patients, but there are additional services we often wish we could provide, but lack sufficient resources. These include women’s health, radiology, and vision services.” He said, for example, an outsourced radiology company comes to CHC one day a week, but by bringing in-house radiology services, such as echocardiogram, ultrasound, and X-rays, “we could provide five days a week for these services. This means that patients will be able to access those services the same day as their appointment.”
Another example is that CHC has partnered with Lions Club International to provide vision screening services to their patients, and Afram-Gyening said it would be great to be able to bring those services in-house. “We could be a one-stop-shop for primary medical care, dental, podiatry, behavioral health, and a place for medical students to learn how to provide healthcare services to the least fortunate among us. There’s a lot more we could do for the population we care about, and it will be very appreciated.”
The Yield Giving website reports that its careful research identified CHC as one of the nonprofit organizations with a “high potential for sustained positive impact, including stable finances, multi-year track records, measurement and evidence of outcomes, and experienced leadership representative of the community served.”
As to why CHC received it, Afram-Gyening said, “We had no idea it was coming until we were notified,” but he believes one reason is the way the organization is able to make such an impact in collaboration with other service providers in South Florida. He honed in on Miami Dade Homeless Trust as one group in particular that they work with for “anything related to homelessness. During COVID, we worked with them when they acquired hotels for quarantine and isolation centers to house people who had been affected by COVID, and we provided healthcare services for the residents.”
He also pointed out that HRSA (Health Resources & Services Administration) hands out quality awards, or quality badges, to honor health centers across the country that have achieved the best overall clinical quality performance. In November, of 1,400 health community organizations in the nation, the top 10 percent – or 144 – received the quality gold award as Health Center Quality Leader for achievements in improving health outcomes, and for providing high-quality care to patients in underserved communities. CHC was among that 10 percent receiving the literal gold standard.
Afram-Gyening concluded, “We’re truly humbled by this incredible recognition. It’s a testament to the board, leadership of Camillus Health, and our amazing staff.”
For more information, call (305) 577-4840 or visit www.camillusHEALTH.org.
