Jackson Free Press

PICAYUNE, Miss. (AP) — Two programs 180 miles apart in Mississippi are among 11 community-based heart health programs nationwide getting grants from a pharmaceutical company foundation.

The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation is giving $180,000 each to Manna Ministries Inc. in Picayune and Mallory Community Health Center in Lexington.

Leaders from both groups will participate in a roundtable discussion at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Resurrection Life Church in Picayune.

Both have received previous grants under the "Connections for Cardiovascular Health" program.

More than half the people in each group have lost weight, averaging six to seven pounds, Joyce Jacobson, the foundation's executive director, said in a news release. She said Lexington participants also scored better on a test of nutrition knowledge. In Picayune, many participants reduced cholesterol levels

Programs in Thousand Oaks and Van Nuys, California and one each in Washington, D.C.; New York City; Grand Rapids, Michigan, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Ringgold, Georgia; Wise, Virginia, and Charleston, West Virginia also received grants.

Those recipients are:

—$167,383, to Catherine's Health Center in Grand Rapids for "Healthy Heart Team," a program aimed at patients with multiple medical conditions.

—$178,809, to City Health Works in New York, for a neighborhood-based health coaching program for minority, low-income people.

—$179,974, to Drexel University's Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services, for a program to help at-risk teens.

—$179,726 to The Gaston & Porter Health Improvement Center Inc. in Washington for "Prime Time Sister Circles," helping low-income African-American women.

—$179,200 to North Georgia HealthCare Center in Ringgold, for "POWER (Patient Outreach with Educational Resources)," aimed at underserved residents of the center's service area.

—$180,000 for St. Mary's Health Wagon in Wise, for "Heart Health 1, 2, 3," for people with metabolic syndrome — a group of conditions like high blood sugar, poor cholesterol or a big waistline that, together, increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

—$179,686 to West Virginia Health Right Inc. in Charleston, for "SCALE (Sustainable Changes and Lifestyle Enhancement)," a program for obese patients.

—$179,945 to Westminster Free Clinic in Thousand Oaks, for "Corazones Sanos (Healthy Hearts) Program," for low-income, uninsured Latinos.

—$158,566 to YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles-Mid Valley Family YMCA in Van Nuys, for "Activate Your Heart/Active Su Corazon," a program for underserved, low-income adults in the San Fernando Valley.