Group Health's Crisis Outreach and Relief for Employees (CORE) Fund

Administered by the Group Health Community Foundation, the CORE Fund offers emergency financial support to Group Health employees facing difficult situations. The generosity of Group Health employees made a difference in their co-workers' lives in 2006:

• Group Health employees donated $21,026 to the CORE Fund
• The CORE committee approved 22 grants totaling $17,919

The following stories help illustrate how donations to the CORE Fund helped fellow employees in 2006:

• A new employee received word that his homeless sister — whom he had been trying to locate for six years — was found, deceased, by police in another state. A morgue was holding her body until he could travel to claim her remains. He had not been employed long enough to qualify for paid leave, so a CORE grant helped cover his pay while he traveled to make her burial arrangements.
• A sole earner supporting a family of six became injured at work. He lost pay for some time, and compensation claims took much longer than expected to process. He also had limited access to some forms of paid leave due to his length of employment. Noticing his weight loss and growing stress, the employee's supervisor nominated him for a CORE grant. "He has a stellar work ethic ... this is an employee we want to keep," the supervisor wrote. "Hopefully we can compassionately help him during this difficult time."
• The CORE committee receives several requests annually from employees experiencing domestic violence. In five such cases last year, CORE grants helped the employees and their children move into safe homes. Some of the thank-you cards from families are signed in crayon by the smallest hands.

Why do we have the CORE Fund?
The CORE Fund originated in 1991 with a $25,000 donation from former Group Health Cooperative CEO Phil Nudelman and his wife Sandra. They learned of a staff member who lost everything in a fire, and wanted to set up a safety net that could help her and others in the future.

Today’s CORE grants of up to $500 per employee are funded with interest money generated by the Nudelmans’ original contribution and subsequent employee gifts.