The “Powering Milwaukee Forward” initiative will fund 10 Milwaukee organizations to increase access to basic needs and maternal healthcare in vulnerable communities.
GE HealthCare (Nasdaq: GEHC), the GE HealthCare Foundation, and the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation (CAFF), teamed up to launch a new philanthropic endeavor, Powering Milwaukee Forward, aimed at improving access to basic needs within Milwaukee’s underserved communities. The initiative will grant 10 area nonprofits a total of $1 million.
“The City of Milwaukee has done so much for me and my family – but I know there are so many in this community who struggle to access basic needs,” said Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks power forward and founder of CAFF. “It’s time to support these underserved neighborhoods and help provide what they need to thrive. I’m excited to team up with GE HealthCare and the GE HealthCare Foundation to take action and leave a lasting legacy for Milwaukee.”
Studies by the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services, and many others have shown that access to basic needs, often called social determinants of health, can have an enormous impact on health and wellbeing.
However, the link between basic needs and health outcomes is heavily influenced by racial and socio-economic conditions. Milwaukee experiences significant health disparities exacerbated by neighborhood lines according to the City of Milwaukee Health Department. Diverse neighborhoods with the highest rates of heart disease, infant mortality, and lung cancer also have the nation’s lowest homeownership rates, household incomes, and highest rates of poverty and food deserts.i, ii Because Milwaukee’s health disparities are driven by inequitable access to critical resources, the program will focus on tailored interventions that address access to fair housing, education, healthy food, safe physical environments, and maternal healthcare.
“GE HealthCare has a unique responsibility to help address barriers to care that create health inequities in our communities,” Peter J Arduini, President and CEO, GE HealthCare, said. “With thousands of GE HealthCare colleagues across Greater Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin, we are honored to collaborate with CAFF and nonprofits on Powering Milwaukee Forward to help address the individual, societal, and environmental challenges that exist in the region.”
Powering Milwaukee Forward will strive for lasting impact with this initiative that can be monitored, measured, and scaled for success. Through the lens of social determinants of health, the initiative is aimed at improving access to:
- Housing, with Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity and Acts Housing.
- Education, with the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee and YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.
- Healthy food, with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin and Hunger Task Force.
- Safe physical environments, with Milwaukee Parks Foundation and Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers.
In alignment with its funding priorities on maternal and infant healthcare, the GE HealthCare Foundation will support this initiative by providing grants to the African American Breastfeeding Network, and Children's Wisconsin Foundation.
To learn more about Powering Milwaukee Forward and its grantees, please visit https://info.gehealthcare.com/powering-milwaukee-forward.
[i]: Community Health Needs Assessment. City of Milwaukee Health Department. 8 December 2022. https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/healthAuthors/ADMIN/PDFs/Reports/MHD_CHA_FINAL.pdf
[ii]: Community Health Improvement Plan. City of Milwaukee Health Department. 2023. https://city.milwaukee.gov/Health/MKE-Elevate
About GE HealthCare Technologies Inc.
GE HealthCare is a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and digital solutions innovator, dedicated to providing integrated solutions, services, and data analytics to make hospitals more efficient, clinicians more effective, therapies more precise, and patients healthier and happier. Serving patients and providers for more than 125 years, GE HealthCare is advancing personalized, connected, and compassionate care, while simplifying the patient’s journey across the care pathway. Together our Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics businesses help improve patient care from diagnosis, to therapy, to monitoring. We are a $19.6 billion business with approximately 51,000 colleagues working to create a world where healthcare has no limits.
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About the GE HealthCare Foundation
The GE HealthCare Foundation is a charitable entity incorporated separately from GE HealthCare, focused on advancing equitable access to precision healthcare. The Foundation was launched in March 2024. In its inaugural year, the Foundation is focusing on the maternal health crisis around the world to address the disparities in care for mothers and babies in low- and middle-income countries and underserved communities. The Foundation is working with a small number of nonprofit organizations with proven track records of improving the lives of moms and babies in the US, Kenya, and Indonesia.
Visit https://www.gehealthcare.com/foundation to learn more.
About the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation
The Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation (CAFF) is a social impact organization founded by NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and his family. Working across Nigeria, Greece, and Milwaukee, CAFF is committed to providing necessary resources for individuals to reach their fullest potential. The Antetokounmpo family is proof that where opportunity and determination meet, all things are possible – and CAFF was created to mobilize that impact on a global scale. The Foundation develops programming and creates partnerships with innovative organizations meeting some of the world’s most pressing needs. CAFF seeks to inspire others to team up and get involved, extending the impact far beyond what one family can do together. CAFF’s current priority focus areas are sport and basic needs.
For more information about the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation (CAFF), visit https://caff.foundation.
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i: Social determinants of health. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/health-topics/social-determinants-of-health#tab=tab_1
ii: Community Health Needs Assessment. City of Milwaukee Health Department. 8 December 2022. https://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/healthAuthors/ADMIN/PDFs/Reports/MHD_CHA_FINAL.pdf
iii: Community Health Improvement Plan. City of Milwaukee Health Department. 2023. https://city.milwaukee.gov/Health/MKE-Elevate
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Contacts
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Global Head of Public Affairs
GE HealthCare
+1 215-534-7618
Kenneth.dominski@gehealthcare.com
