Community resource directory now available to all on kp.org
Thousands of people are finding life-changing assistance through organizations in their communities thanks to Thrive Local, Kaiser Permanente’s program to connect people with local resources.
With Thrive Local, KP care teams can access an online directory of community-based programs and services to help members with their nonmedical needs, such as food, housing, transportation, and bills.
Now that same community resource directory is available directly to KP members and any other community member who needs it at kp.org/communityresources.
“We know good health includes making sure people’s basic needs are met, and now, more than ever, people need a place where they can feel comfortable seeking support for social factors impacting their well-being,” said Anand Shah, MD, vice president of social health for Kaiser Permanente. “The online directory is one more way we can help.”
Expanding Thrive Local
When KP started Thrive Local, the aim was to make it easy for KP care teams to connect members with local organizations and services.
By using Thrive Local, Usha Chulliyil, RN, clinical services director for Care Without Delay at Kaiser Permanente in Modesto, found a local nonprofit that would loan KP member Rosario Campusano, 84, a motorized chair to keep her comfortable and mobile at home.
Campusano struggled with chronic lung disease, heart failure, and 2 bad knees. A motorized chair would help increase her mobility, but she and her family couldn’t afford one. The nonprofit loaned Campusano a chair with only a small delivery fee.
“The chair is making a big difference in my mom’s health and quality of life,” said Dina Hernandez, Campusano’s daughter.
Having the resource directory — a database built in partnership with Unite Us that includes 16,000 community organizations and services — available directly to members and other people in our communities will expand on the success of Thrive Local and allow more people to explore what’s available to them at their own convenience.
Dedicated phone line
The online community resource directory is accessible to all kp.org visitors, and only a ZIP code is needed to start a search.
If members need extra assistance, they can speak to a specialist by phone Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. local time.
Dancer and choreographer Crishon Landers, 33, was transferred to the dedicated phone line after testing positive for COVID-19 in early 2021. Landers not only had to self-isolate for a few weeks due to the virus, but he was also struggling to afford nutritious food after recently losing his job. The phone line specialist helped enroll him in a free, KP-funded meal service that would deliver 20-plus prepared meals, along with snacks and drinks, to his Silver Springs, Maryland, home.
Landers credits the phone line specialists for helping him avoid spreading the virus to his family and for keeping his spirits up while he stayed isolated at home.
“They were awesome,” he said. “No one wants to be in that situation, but I felt like I was seen and heard and well regarded. I felt like I was in good hands.”
Learn more about social health — everything essential for good health, like having a safe place to live, enough money, and healthy food — and direct your friends and loved ones who might need help to kp.org/socialhealth.