Since 2001, the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC) has provided comprehensive evidence-based home visitation services to families in Philadelphia to improve maternal and child health outcomes. Over the last two decades, NNCC has developed complementary and integrated services based on the conclusive evidence that poverty harms health. In 2016, NNCC established the Philadelphia Nursing-Legal Partnership (NLP) to provide free legal services to Philadelphia Nurse-Family Partnership and Mabel Morris Family Home Visit Program (NFP/MM) participants. In May 2020, NNCC created the Family Emergency Fund to provide critical financial support to families in the form of low-barrier, rapid response grants.
The goals of the Family Emergency Fund are to:
- Ensure safe and healthy housing.
- Maintain family stability and ensure children's safety.
- Support education and health care access.
Between May and December 2020, a total of $53,924 in funds were distributed through 94 grants to 67 families participating in NFP/MM. Individual grants ranged from $50 to $2,350. The majority of grant recipients were Black and Hispanic mothers residing in low-income communities in Philadelphia. The average turnaround time for the grants to be administered was 2.4 days.
