Boeing Donates $2.5 Million to Help Fund Vital Programs at OBCC
8.29.2020 | Seattle Children's Press Team
Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) is more than a medical home for families. OBCC is often affectionately called a second home by the patients and families it serves, and the clinical staff are referred to as an extension of their family. OBCC is a clinic, but it’s also something much larger: it is hope.
The team at OBCC represents the communities they serve and advocates for the well-being of patients and families both inside the walls of the clinic and beyond.
Today, Boeing has committed to investing $2.5 million to help fund vital programs at OBCC and a new, second OBCC to better serve under-resourced, ethnically diverse communities.
“We are extremely grateful that Boeing’s contribution will help us address the immense challenges our families face – challenges like food insecurity, trauma, school readiness and gentrification,” said Dr. Benjamin Danielson, senior medical director of OBCC. “It’s vital now more than ever that we meet and support our families in ways that make a lasting and impactful difference. With this gift, we’ll be able to help more families who need us and implement programs to break generational cycles of illness.”
OBCC is a uniquely holistic and culturally relevant service model that provides medical, dental and mental health care, regardless of families’ ability to pay. The OBCC team also addresses nonmedical factors that determine up to 80% of a child’s overall health and school readiness. Children cannot learn and thrive if they are hungry, sick, unsupported or experiencing trauma.
Expanding the reach of OBCC
In 2022, Seattle Children’s will open a new, second OBCC location adjacent to the Othello Link light rail station in the Rainier Valley.
Health outcomes for children living in poverty have not improved for decades. Rates of asthma, dental disease, obesity and mental and behavioral health issues among lower-income kids are rising as public funds for health care are dwindling. OBCC provides more than medical, dental and mental health care — it also works to address the social, economic and environmental roots of illness, which is critical to children’s overall health. Services at the second location will include pediatric medical care, mental health, dental services, nutrition, sports medicine, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.
Other services including the development of early literacy curriculum, a fully integrated medical and mental healthcare model with emphasis on addressing the social determinants of health, trauma-informed care, restorative justice and healing programs, an enhanced Birth to Five Program with increased screening and intervention strategies, and even stronger community partnerships that share and meld expertise will better treat the whole child.
OBCC’s inclusive and community-centered model will ensure that patients and families have the resources, skills, confidence and opportunities to live their healthiest and most fulfilling lives possible.