LEONARDTOWN, MD (June 4, 2024) – The St. Mary’s County Health Department (SMCHD) has been awarded $5 million in grant funding through the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission (CHRC) Health Equity Resource Communities (HERC) program, which aims to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes in underserved communities. Funding will be spread out over five years to help sustain operations at the St. Mary’s County Health Hub, including behavioral health walk-in crisis services and a variety of programs to promote health and wellness for St. Mary’s County community members.
SMCHD is one of eleven grant awardees in the state; CHRC received 59 eligible applications. The new HERC funding builds upon the success of prior grant funding SMCHD had received from CHRC, and is made available under the Maryland Health Equity Resource Act approved by the Maryland General Assembly in 2021.
The Health Hub currently offers walk-in evaluations of mental health and addiction, crisis counseling, primary care medical services, and many additional community services that address the non-medical parts of people’s lives affecting their health. The Health Hub team also helps people connect to health and wellness services in the community that they may need.
“This new HERC grant is critical to continuing services at the Health Hub. While our prior grant funding was ending we were able to demonstrate the incredible value of what the Health Hub team does for our community,” said Dr. Meena Brewster, St. Mary’s County Health Officer. “The Health Hub is a collaboration of our whole agency team and many community partners. It improves access to health care, is a major resource for a person in crisis, and helps people succeed in both health and overall wellness. We are so grateful for this support from CHRC to continue serving our St. Mary’s County community members.”
To learn more about the St. Mary’s County Health Hub, visit hub.smchd.org.
To learn more about the CHRC, please visit health.maryland.gov/mchrc.
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