New
Day Foundation for Families today
announced that the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has awarded the cancer support nonprofit a $75,000 capacity
building grant to fund strategic planning designed to ensure the longterm
stability of the organization. The announcement was made by Gina Kell Spehn,
co-founder and president of New Day.
In
2022 New Day embarked upon a strategic plan which laid the groundwork for
success. The first phase of New Day's plan was successful in raising the
organization’s profile statewide and capturing transformational funding
opportunities. Meanwhile, programming staff worked to simplify and scale its application
processes, resulting in a 200% increase in the number of partner hospitals and
a 300% increase in the number of families served since 2019.
This
grant from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan will help fund the
next phase of the strategic plan. The ultimate goal is to ensure that New Day
has the tools and resources needed to continue to serve Michigan families
longterm.
“We
are grateful for the support of the Community Foundation in helping us manage
our significant growth and ensure that New Day is here to serve families facing
cancer in the future,” said Kell Spehn. “We provide essential cancer support
services and this grant is an investment in the future of cancer care across
Michigan.”
"Equitable
access to health care is essential in order to ensure southeast Michigan is a
place where everyone thrives," Community Foundation President and CEO
Richard (Ric) DeVore says. "We're honored to partner with New Day Foundation
to create a future where more people in our region survive cancer because they
have the financial and emotional support to get the care they need."
In
cancer, diagnostics and medical treatment are vital, but for thousands of
patients, outcomes depend on having financial and emotional support. Research
shows that nearly one in three families are unable to meet their own basic
needs while a child is in treatment, and people are twice as likely to die of
cancer if they have financial distress.
When financial toxicity destabilizes a family during
cancer treatment, New Day provides practical resources to the most vulnerable
Michigan cancer patients and families. Having housing, reliable transportation,
homes with heat, electricity, and running water, and healthy food on the table
is essential. Additionally, families
have someone they can trust when facing the fear and anxiety that comes with
their diagnosis. Patients are referred through one of New Day’s 120 hospital
partners across the state.
The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan is a full-service philanthropic organization
leading the way to positive change in our region. As a permanent community
endowment built by gifts from thousands of individuals and organizations, the
Foundation supports a wide variety of activities benefiting education, arts and
culture, health, human services, community development, and civic
affairs. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed more than $1.4
billion through more than 91,000 grants to nonprofit organizations throughout
Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, St. Clair, and Livingston counties. For more information, please visit www.cfsem.org.
New Day Foundation for Families is a cancer care leader that provides
financial and emotional resources to Michigan families facing cancer to address
the harmful effects of financial toxicity. Hospitals and cancer centers
statewide rely on New Day to identify and support families suffering a
significant loss of income due to a cancer diagnosis. New Day is a Charity
Navigator 4-star nonprofit, Platinum Level Guidestar organization and top-rated
nonprofit by Great Nonprofits.
