MDwise helps make Christmas merrier for homeless children across Indiana

12/19/2011

Organization donating 165 totes filled with stuffed animals, blankets and books to local shelters

INDIANAPOLIS-December 19, 2011

MDwise staff members stuff 165 Project Night Night
totes that will be distributed
to homeless children across Indiana

In an effort to boost holiday spirit among homeless children, MDwise, Indiana’s only not-for-profit managed health care organization serving those on the state’s Hoosier Healthwise, Healthy Indiana Plan and Care Select health coverage programs, is donating 165 Night Night Totes filled with stuffed animals, blankets and books to children at shelters in Bloomington, Danville, Gary and Terre Haute.

MDwise purchased the totes through Project Night Night, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of homeless children by providing them with childhood essentials to feel secure, cozy, significant and ready to learn, and asked staff members to donate the stuffed animals, blankets and books to fill them. MDwise then assembled the Night Night Packages and its staff will deliver the totes to the following shelters between before December 23, just in time for the holidays:

The Middleway House/The Rise in Bloomington
Sheltering Wings in Danville
The Ark in Gary
The Rainbow Shelter in Gary
Ladies Conner Center in Terre Haute

“MDwise and Project Night Night are dedicated to improving the lives of homeless children by helping them get a good night’s rest,” said Johnnie Washington, health advocate at MDwise. “This is a unique opportunity to make the holidays a little brighter by providing 165 homeless children in Indiana with blankets, books and stuffed animals.”

“Our organization is continually looking for ways to bring its core values of compassion, excellence and leadership into our communities,” added Michelle Sasser, prior authorization technician at MDwise. “Being a part of the Project Night Night initiative is a great way to do so.”

Unique to this year’s initiative, MDwise has created age-appropriate totes for newborns, toddlers, adolescents and teens. MDwise contacted the shelters ahead of time to determine how many kids in each age group they currently have staying there. This will ensure that the children receiving the totes end up with age-appropriate books.

For more information about MDwise, please visit MDwise.org and for more information about Project Night Night, please visit ProjectNightNight.org.

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About MDwise

MDwise is an Indiana-licensed nonprofit health maintenance organization offering health care benefits to 300,000 Medicaid members. Since 1994 MDwise has provided access to compassionate, high-quality, coordinated health care and education to Medicaid members in communities throughout Indiana.

MDwise is a provider-owned health plan with a large network of doctors, specialists and hospitals located throughout the state. By meeting the basic requirements of the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA’s) rigorous standards for consumer protection and quality improvement, MDwise was awarded NCQA’s accreditation status of Accredited for service and clinical quality. Ninety-seven percent of MDwise members surveyed would recommend MDwise to their family and friends. For more information, visit MDwise.org.

O0172 (12/11)