Fidelis Care, the New York state Catholic Health Plan, recently announced the distribution of two grants totaling $259,200 from its Community Grant Fund to Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens.

The grants will support Catholic Charities’ Healthy Families Project – Brooklyn Community Outreach Expansion. This renewed effort will expand the Brownsville Healthy Families Project to the other central Brooklyn communities in Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York, East Flatbush, Canarsie, Crown Heights and Bushwick and concentrate its efforts on including the Catholic Charities Fatherhood Program for non-custodial young fathers.

The grants will also support the initiative called Educating the Community Concerning All Health Care Options by working through in-house lines of service, the Consortium of Health Care Providers, and other community-based organization partners. It will grow from its current work to see that dependence on emergency rooms as first responders when medical care needs arise is vacated, that people are better informed by physicians regarding specific health care issues and that individuals and families are enrolled with local general practitioners and/or clinics.

“We extend our thanks to Fidelis Care for their continued support and for their dedication to the work of Catholic Charities and for helping those in need,” said Robert Siebel, CEO of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens.

“The financial support from Fidelis Care has been of significant importance in helping us to respond quickly and correctly when the community residents’ needs arise. Now more than ever, funding is especially important.”