Florida nonprofit receives national award and $100,000 prize for fighting food insecurity
Premier Inc. announced that Community Enhancement Collaboration, Inc. (CEC), a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating food insecurity in Broward County, Florida, has received the 28th annual Monroe E. Trout Premier Cares Award and a $100,000 cash prize from the company.
Sponsored by Premier and its alliance of more than 4,100 hospitals and health systems and approximately 200,000 other providers and organizations, the Premier Cares Award recognizes exemplary efforts by nonprofit community organizations to improve the health of populations in need.
CEC is a grassroots organization established 17 years ago by a local resident and Black woman, Nadine McCrea, to address the food insecurity needs of diverse low- and moderate-income families in her community. CEC partners with social service agencies, local municipalities and healthcare providers to meet families’ needs and improve access to nutritious food, financial assistance, job training, clothing, internet and more. Last year, CEC generated an average of 3.2 referrals per household for additional community resources and helped 9% of its clients reach food security.
“CEC started as a food pantry in my home and has grown to serve more than 37,000 people per year, supported entirely by volunteers,” said McCrea, Founder and President of Community Enhancement Collaboration and a Broward County resident for more than 40 years. “Because of our efforts, fewer children wonder where their next meal will come from, fewer residents will be late to pay bills and more of my neighbors will have access to healthcare.”
For more than a decade, McCrea and CEC have partnered with Memorial Healthcare System, a Premier member based in Hollywood, Florida, on community initiatives and improvement projects that expand access to care and critical resources. CEC helps its clients determine eligibility for government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid, has connected individuals seeking a medical home with Memorial and provides input into the Community Health Needs Assessment.
A panel of national healthcare leaders selects the Premier Cares Award winner each year. The program spotlights community-based healthcare initiatives and helps other organizations learn to replicate activities, as well as provides funding support to help winners advance their programs and services. To date, the Cares program has provided more than $3 million to more than 100 organizations nationwide.
Premier has presented the Cares Award annually since 1991, when it was created by Monroe E. Trout, MD, former CEO of American Healthcare Systems, one of Premier’s heritage organizations. The competition is open to nonprofit organizations that have been in existence for more than two years, are providing creative solutions to health status improvement, can provide documentation of outcomes and impact on a specific population, and have programs that can be replicated in other communities.
