A health equity award from Univera Healthcare will support Warrior House of WNY and its Aging Strong Program to promote physical health among senior adults aged 55 and older in rural Genesee County. Based in Oakfield, New York, just north of Batavia, Warrior House is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of veterans and families throughout Western New York through supported services that promote social and emotional development for overall health and wellbeing.
“Aging Strong is a community-based fitness and nutrition program that informs and empowers older adults to make healthy choices about eating, and safely increase their level of physical activity,” says Warrior House co-founder and Treasurer Susan Zeliff. “In our part of Genesee County, the need for this type of program is great, but existing resources were few. That is, until Univera stepped in with underwriting support.”
Warrior House of WNY is located at 33 S. Main Street in Oakfield, New York, in a building known to the community as The Goose, from its days as a Yellow Goose Market. “Goose” has not only been embraced as a nod to the site’s former use, but also as an acronym for the Warrior House motto, God is On Our Side Every day.
Univera Healthcare is a nonprofit health plan that serves members across the eight counties of Western New York.“Our 500+ employees come from across the region,” says Univera Healthcare President Art Wingerter. “We’re local, so we understand the importance of supporting programs that address health inequities in the communities we serve, in the place we call home.”
Univera Healthcare invited nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organizations serving Western New York to apply for Health Equity Awards to help fund health and wellness programs that address racial and ethnic health disparities. Health Equity categories included but were not limited to: Reducing health disparities in racial, ethnic, LGBTQ communities, people with disabilities, people living in rural or urban communities, or other groups that may be at higher health risk for medical issues and conditions (chronic or acute), behavioral health or mental health conditions, and negative outcomes from the above, including death or suicide.
“Working together with organizations such as Warrior House, we are confronting the crisis in health disparities, and addressing long-standing gaps in care and services in underserved communities,” says Wingerter.
Learn about Warrior House of WNY at www.warriorhouseofwny.com. Learn about Univera Healthcare at www.univerahealthcare.com.
