PHILADELPHIA – GlaxoSmithKline today awarded its Ninth Annual GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards to eight nonprofit organizations from the Greater Philadelphia, Reading and Lancaster areas for improving the healthcare of the underserved in their communities.  The GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Award recognizes excellence in the area of community nonprofit healthcare and as part of the award each of the eight local awardees received $40,000 to continue their work.

“This year’s winners provide healthcare and other vitally needed services to their communities despite their limited resources and changing demographics,” explains Jennie V. Younger, senior vice president of Corporate Communications and Global Community Partnerships for GlaxoSmithKline.  “Through their creativity, ability to build partnerships and their adaptability to change, these organizations offer the much needed access to healthcare resources that many in their communities would otherwise be without.  They are models for excellence.”

For groups like the Philadelphia-based AIDS Services in Asian Communities (ASIAC) and the Media-based Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, a key driver for their success is educating the community and the medical professionals that service them. 

“To be truly effective, we must raise the level of community awareness about the healthcare issues we face,” says Ronald T. Sy, executive director of ASIAC.  “By educating the community, we mobilize it and raise the level of care.” ASIAC provides culturally sensitive and language appropriate HIV-related services to Asians and Pacific Islanders and their partners, friends, family members and service providers.

Rita Buckley Connolly, executive director of the Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, Inc., which provides domestic violence prevention and intervention services to the residents of Delaware County, agrees.  “Through educating the community and medical professionals, in particular, to recognize the signs and impact of domestic abuse, we are able to get our clients the services they need earlier.” 

Other community health issues addressed by GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Award winners include cancer support, drug abuse, mental health, craniofacial abnormalities, chronic diseases and child health.

“This GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Award allows us to continue the work we currently do, while helping us raise awareness,” says Connolly. 

GlaxoSmithKline created the IMPACT Awards to reward the exemplary healthcare initiatives of small- to mid-size nonprofit organizations that improve the lives of underserved children and adults in their communities. Held annually in both the Philadelphia area and the United Kingdom, the awards form part of GlaxoSmithKline's Global Community Partnerships program which focuses on building partnerships with nonprofit organizations whose goals and activities reflect the company’s commitment to improving the quality of human life.

A judging panel made up of leading healthcare experts and GlaxoSmithKline executives selected the winners.  Other organizations who received this year’s GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Award were:

• Family Guidance Center, Wyomissing – provides outpatient mental health and substance abuse service to families in Berks County and surrounding areas
• Fresh Start, Philadelphia – assists chemically dependent adults gain treatment and support
• Gilda’s Club Delaware Valley, Warminster – supports the emotional and social needs of people with cancer as a supplement to medical care
• Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic, Lancaster – improves the quality of life for those with craniofacial conditions resulting from birth defect, trauma and disease through comprehensive coordinated care
• Philip Jaisohn Memorial Center (Jaisohn), Philadelphia – works to improve access to primary healthcare for Korean Americans in partnership with the community and other agencies
• Support Center for Child Advocates, Philadelphia – advocates for victims of child abuse and neglect in Philadelphia and works to ensure healthcare access for all children in protective and foster care

GlaxoSmithKline is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.  The company is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.  For more information about GlaxoSmithKline, please visit www.gsk.com.