Community of Hope's Kelly Sweeney McShane knew getting a slice of the $1B that Bill Conway wanted to pump into the DC region would be a long shot. But she wrote an email and was rewarded last week with the biggest gift ever in the nonprofit's history: $1.75M from Bill and his wife Joanne Conway's charitable trust, the Bedford Falls Foundation. The gift includes a $250k matching grant to challenge other donors to finish the capital campaign. At least $250k will go to training entry-level healthcare workers in soft skills, like how to work in a team.The rest of the money will go toward the nonprofit's new health and resource center, slated to be finished by year's end in Ward 8.
Kelly sent us this recent photo of the steel beams going into place. The $26.5M Conway Health and Resource Center will provide 40,000 medical, dental, and behavioral health visits to 10,000 DC residents and add 50 jobs to the local workforce. Kelly says Community of Hope has been planning for the health center for four years and has funding from other sources, including the DC government and the Affordable Care Act. Kelly says she's honored that Bill and Joanne are putting their name on the buildingand that it's a major investment east of the river.
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