Westside Family Health Center has received a $1 Million gift grom the Richard F. Dwyer and Eleanor W. Dwyer Fund for Excellence at a recent fundraiser emceed by actress Gina Rodriguez. The money raised will provide primary health care to families trying to make ends meet.
Gina Rodriguez, Golden Globe winner from “Jane the Virgin” emceed Westside Family Health Center’s (WFHC) annual fundraising event, “I HEART WFHC” on Saturday, February 20 at Bar & Garden Annex in Culver City.
Over 200 people came out to support WFHC, including many of Rodriguez’s family and friends, selling out the event. Rodriguez has been a supporter of WFHC for the last year. “My family and I have a great deal of respect for the health services and community outreach that Westside Family Health Center provides,” she said.
At the event, WFHC publicly celebrated a $1 million dollar pledge from the Richard F. Dwyer and Eleanor W. Dwyer Fund for Excellence. This is the largest gift ever received by the Santa Monica based non-profit community health center and will go to build a healthier and brighter future for WFHC, which has been providing quality, primary health care to low-income and uninsured populations for the last 42 years.
“On behalf of Westside Family Health Center’s Board, team and patients, thank you to the Richard F. Dwyer and Eleanor W. Dwyer Fund For Excellence for this generous gift of $1 million. We can say that the future looks bright for Westside Family Health Center,” said Debra A. Farmer, Westside Family Health Center’s President/Chief Executive Officer.
Another highlight of the event included honoring Darlene Lasher with the Community Leader Award for her years of activism and partnership for services to low-income people in the areas of health care, mental illness, homelessness and housing, at-risk youth, battered women and their children.
WFHC also honored Ms. Barbara Lloyd of London, England with the D. Gene Parks, MD Community Volunteer Service Award for her prolific knitting for the patients of WFHC. The event was generously sponsored by individuals and businesses. Top sponsors included Kaiser Permanente and Comerica Bank.
WFHC serves women, men and children through five core programs: Family Practice, Prenatal, Pediatrics, Reproductive Health Services and Community Outreach and Education. Services include, but are not limited to: birth control; pap smears; mammograms; pregnancy testing; prenatal care; childbirth classes; mother-child support groups; sick-child exams; well-child checkups; adult physical exams; vision screening; nutrition counseling; immunizations; chronic condition screening, treatment and management; anonymous, confidential HIV testing and counseling; and more. WFHC also provides community outreach and education on multiple health care topics, as well as health insurance enrolment counselling.
Going forward, WFHC hopes to continue to build healthier communities. Future aspirations include moving to a new clinic space and adding programs in mental health, dental and vision care. Community tours of the clinic can be scheduled by contacting Celia Bernstein, Director of Development, at cbernstein@wfhcenter.org or 310.450.4773, ext. 254.
Westside Family Health Center, founded in 1974, is a non-profit community health center providing a wide range of low-cost health care services. WFHC serves nearly 10,000 low-income and uninsured women, men and children, regardless of one’s ability to pay. To learn more about WFHC, please visit www.wfhcenter.org.
