Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A large portion of funding comes from businesses and individuals who generously dip into their pockets. It comes from federal and state governments. And it comes from localities: Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke and Botetourt counties each contribute money to the program.
Now one of those localities has decided to give more than money. Salem renovated a vacant house and offered its use, free of charge, to CHIP.
Tuesday, CHIP officially opened its Salem office - its first outside Roanoke.
"Salem has always had a commitment to youth, whether it be through schools, or parks and recreation, or offering this health service for children who are in need," said Frank Turk, Salem's finance director and a member of the CHIP Board of Directors.
"The more we can do for youth - giving them a happy, healthy environment - the more productive they will be."
CHIP was founded in 1988 as a private-public coalition that provides comprehensive health care for Roanoke Valley children living at or below the poverty level. The program serves more than 1,000 children from birth to age 6 in Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke, Botetourt and Craig counties.
In its early years, CHIP reached only a small percentage of low-income children in the Roanoke Valley region. Concerned staff and supporters looked for ways to increase program rolls.
In 1991, CHIP representatives approached Salem about creating a pilot CHIP project in the city. A year later, a full-fledged program was up and running for eligible Salem families.
The program operated primarily out of CHIP's downtown Roanoke office. That created a problem for Salem clients, many of whom had trouble with transportation.
"We started to look for a place in Salem to meet people's needs and be accessible to residents," Turk said.
Property that the city had acquired for the Moyer Sports Complex project included a small brick house. Rather than leave the house vacant or demolish it, the city renovated it and offered its use to CHIP - free of charge, utilities included. Total renovation cost: $33,400.
The opening of the Salem office comes at a time when the program is leaning more than ever on community support. The $1.5 million grant from a foundation awarded seven years ago to get CHIP rolling is ending this fiscal year.
CHIP started this fiscal year $90,000 short of its $800,000 operating budget. It has made up the deficit by aggressively campaigning - by mail, phone and face to face - for contributions.
"We worked diligently to close that gap and we did," said Peggy Balla, CHIP's executive director. "A lot of individuals in the community came forward."
CHIP serves 108 children in Salem, about half the number identified as eligible for the program.
"Our goal is to increase the number of families," said Andrea Brown, a registered nurse who works as case manager for CHIP's Salem clients. "We want to reach out to those folks and help them where they live."
The office, at 915 Union St., has a children's play area, an examination room, meeting space and small offices where clients can enroll or recertify for the program. Brown wants to use some of the meeting space to start a support group for young single mothers. About one-third of Brown's caseload falls into that category, she said.
But the office primarily will be used to manage the care of children who otherwise would not have regular access to a doctor.
"We do a lot of care coordination, referring [participants] to CHIP providers - pediatric clinics or individual physicians," Brown said.
CHIP also assists children's families with a myriad of medical and social needs, such as helping them get prescriptions filled, find dental care or find decent housing.
Medicaid recipients automatically qualify for the program. Others can qualify under certain criteria, Brown said.
"People come to us from varied circumstances, backgrounds, family structures," she said. "We have single moms, two-parent families, grandparents. We try to focus on the whole family, not just the CHIP child."
by CNB