Children’s Beach House receives $10K grant from Rite Aid

Children’s Beach House has been awarded $10,000 from Rite Aid Healthy Futures to support improved health outcomes for children in its youth development program. In alignment with the organization’s focus on addressing health disparities and inequities, the award acknowledges the importance of providing all children with a safe and positive environment as a foundation for healthy growth and development.

Children in the youth development program come from under-resourced communities across Delaware, where access to healthcare is poor across 71% of access measures, according to a 2021 study from the National Institutes of Health.

As part of YDP programming, children attend summer and weekend camps at CBH’s beachfront facility in Lewes, where they engage in programming designed to strengthen their social-emotional health. While at camp, the children are also seen by the CBH nurse, who routinely evaluates their health and works with their families to make referrals when appropriate. Last year, the organization identified several children suffering from untreated dental problems and worked to get them dental benefits under the Delaware Healthy Children Program. CBH family engagement coordinators also work regularly with families to secure health insurance and identify appropriate long-term healthcare providers in their communities.

“What the Rite Aid Healthy Futures grant represents for our families is that parents won’t have to choose between the electric bill and the cost of a copay when their child gets sick,” said Jackie Donaldson, CBH youth development program director. “They won’t have to hope their kid’s toothache goes away on its own because they have no way to get to the dentist. It allows our families to shift from a reactive, crisis-driven approach to healthcare to a more proactive and preventative plan for their child’s health.”

Based in Lewes, Children’s Beach House supports healthy physical, social and emotional outcomes for children and youth in need across the state, to help build a world where all children thrive.

For more information, go to cbhinc.org.