Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has awarded Neighborhood Health Center of WNY a $5 million gift through her charitable foundation, Yield Giving.
Scott’s unrestricted gift will help the organization advance its mission of impactful healthcare, provided by kind people, so Western New Yorkers can achieve their dreams and goals. This is the largest single gift the nonprofit receives in its history.
“This was a completely unexpected, and wonderful, surprise,” said Neighborhood Health Center President and CEO Joanne Haefner. “I am incredibly grateful to Ms. Scott and her team for recognizing the important work we’re doing and the need for each person in the community to be able to access high quality healthcare. This grant speaks volumes about her belief in our work and desire to invest in our long term impact.”
Neighborhood has begun the process of determining how best to use the gift to achieve the most benefit in the community.
“It’s not every day you find out someone wants to give your organization $5 million and trusts you to make decisions on how to use it. We will carefully consider our options,” said Haefner. Neighborhood has served as the region’s leading primary care safety-net provider for 36 years and provides access to high quality, comprehensive healthcare services for Western New Yorkers, regardless of ability to pay. Neighborhood has six locations, plus a mobile unit. It is the largest and longest-serving Federally Qualified Health Center in the region and currently the primary care home to more than 28,000 Western New Yorkers. Neighborhood has the highest quality scores of all health centers in Western New York. To learn more about Neighborhood and its work toward health equity, please visit nhcwny.org.