Founded in August 2005, the Lee Initiatives Health and Wellness Endowment (LIHWE) was formed as a result of a legal settlement. This endowment was established as the "Legacy of Lee Hospital" in an effort to improve the health and well-being of the residents of West Central Pennsylvania.

With assets over 9 million dollars and an assessment of the derivative earnings, the Lee Initiatives Board of Directors will annually determine the amount of grant money they expect to be available for grants. The Board also believes that this money will make a significant contribution in grants to programs that will provide services that improve the health and well-being as well as the quality of life for as many residents as possible.

What We Believe:

We believe that the endowment’s resources can help our community make the decisions and take the leaps necessary to address critical health issues. Through working with others to provide financial resources, we believe we can help our neighbors lead healthier, more active lives. If we can improve access to high quality health care and if we can empower individuals and families to take control of their health, we can improve the health and well-being of all the residents of West Central Pennsylvania.

What We Do:

The Lee Initiatives Health & Wellness Endowment brings people, organizations and resources together to improve the health and well-being of all people in West Central Pennsylvania. We seek input from individuals, business leaders, governmental leaders and organizations both for-profit and not-for-profit, to define and find solutions to critical health issues. We believe that creative solutions are possible for all problems and those solutions are limited only by the creativity of the grant writer. Our primary focus is to provide grants and to serve as a resource to organizations working to improve access to healthcare, dental health, prescription coverage, and mental health services to the uninsured and under-insured. Other priority funding areas include projects that address violence, substance abuse and community problems that are detrimental to good health.

Grants:

It is our privilege to help nonprofit organizations in West Central Pennsylvania promote health and improve access to healthcare. We are committed to being responsible stewards of the community assets for which we have accepted responsibility.
As we judge each project/grant, the review process will focus on the projects that have the greatest possible impact on improving the health and well-being of individuals in our area.
We are interested in grant applications that make high quality health care more accessible and that encourage people from every background to strive for good health.

Lee Initiatives has established a review committee and the Board of Trustees of Lee Initiatives will make the final decision on grant awards.

The grant application cycle will begin again each fall with awardees being announced in the spring of every year.