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Family Fund awards grants from campaign The MUSC Family Fund is among the many MUSC Foundation funds supported by employees giving during the YES Campaign.   The fund provides grants to projects that positively impact the mission of the Medical University through education, patient care and research. Established in 1999, the Family Fund has given more than $142,953 to 77 projects on campus. Through the years, the fund has supported the work of the College of Nursing-School Based Clinics, Alliance for Hispanic Health, Outpatient Pediatric AIDS Clinic Retreat, Respiratory Care-Tracheotomy TOM and much more.   This year the committee chose 10 projects to receive the $23,614 available in grant money. Expanded Pharmacy Indigent Discharge Program—$2,500 grant given to Pharmacy Services This program provides a mechanism that facilitates patient discharge and prevents hospitalization by providing medications to uninsured, needy patients. It goes beyond the standard indigent discharge program from which Ambulatory Care pharmacies can dispense a three-day supply of medicine. Sickle Cell Sisters—$2,500 grant given to Child Life Department Sickle Cell Sisters is a support group for adolescent females living with sickle cell disease. This group provides teenage girls with the opportunity to spend time with one another, hear firsthand experiences about their struggles, worries and successes, and provide peer support/encouragement. The group brings these girls together so they can foster adaptive behaviors, create healthy self-concepts and prepare the members for the transition into adulthood. This group would not exist without funding from the MUSC Family Fund. Meeting Development and Mental Health Needs for Vulnerable Preschoolers—$2,500 grant given to Pediatrics and Psychiatry The goal is to develop an efficient protocol to improve the ability to evaluate developmental and mental health needs of vulnerable young children that have a history of abuse and neglect. The long-term goal of the clinic is: 1) to evaluate what has been done and how well it has worked; 2) to expand the clinic and provide state-of-the-art evidence-based evaluations; and 3) to use this clinic as a setting for multidisciplinary teaching and as a basis of a model to be presented at conferences. Safe Kids—$2,500 grant given to Children’s Services MUSC Children’s Hospital is the lead agency for Trident Area Safe Kids Coalition that is part of the National Safe Kids Campaign. The Safe Kids grant money helps provides child safety seats and child passenger safety education to low-income families. Pediatric Oncology Patient and Family Education Manual—$2,500 grant given to Children’s Services MUSC Children’s Hospital Pediatric Hematology/Oncology team manages the  care of children diagnosed with cancer. A Pediatric Oncology Patient and Family Education Manual was  developed for newly diagnosed cancer patients to provide patients and their families a source of steady information. On average, an individual retains approximately 10 percent of the information received during their child’s initial admission. Families are given the educational manual during this time to help provide information on coping techniques, diagnosis, medication, test, and resources. The manual also describes the hospital environment and identifies the members of the pediatric oncology team. It focuses on answering the questions families need to know but rarely have the ability to process during stressful times. The manual supplements efforts to educate and support these families. Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) Project—$2,500 grant given to Clinical Effectiveness The SBS Project includes a coordinated, hospital-based, parent education program, targeting parents of all newborn infants at MUSC. It involves the dissemination of information (SBS brochure) to both parents of all newborn infants before the infant is discharged from the hospital. Parents also are asked to view a short SBS video and are provided a certificate that affirms their receipt and understanding of the information. A portion of the grant money also pays for SBS community awareness billboards in partnership with the Exchange Club. Car Beds for Infants—$2,500 grant given to Clinical Effectiveness This grant allows the Clinical Effectiveness department to purchase car beds to be used by parents of premature infants who cannot be transported by sitting upright in a rear-facing car seat. CPR Education for Families—$1,675 grant given to eighth floor Children’s Hospital Infant Care Unit Many families are required to learn CPR before the child is discharged from the Children’s Hospital. Oftentimes, the training is conducted bedside, which is not conducive to instruction or learning. With the grant money, the Children’s Hospital will be able to set up a classroom learning facility and provide a certified CPR instructor. This grant also will allow Children’s Hospital to purchase infant and adult manikins, a CPR DVD for families in English and Spanish, and CPR infant and child brochures. No other funding exists for this project. The CARES Clinic—$2,500 given to Family Medicine The CARES (Community Aid, Relief, Education, and Support) Clinic is a student-run, free medical clinic for uninsured patients in the Charleston area. The clinic also helps meet the educational needs of students. Funding from the YES Family Fund helps aid the purchase of needed supplies and medicines from the K-mart pharmacy. Special Toys for Exceptional Kids—$1,939 given to the Medically Fragile Children’s Unit (MFCU) This money will help purchase toys approved by the MFCU therapy team to meet the needs of children with special needs.     Friday, June 15, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.