November 19, 1999

"In spite of the good economy, when illness hits, none of us are prepared for the added expenses."
-Evelyn Bonander, MSW, director of MGH Social Services

The United Way funds numerous social service agencies that help MGH patients, as well as many people in need across Massachusetts and the United States. In an agreement between the United Way and the Massachusetts Hospital Association, hospital social service departments – including MGH Social Services – receive some United Way funds to fill in the gaps where agencies are not able to address a particular situation.

"In spite of the good economy, when illness hits, none of us are prepared for the added expenses and the oftentimes diminished income, not to mention the emotional turmoil," says Evelyn Bonander, MSW, director of MGH Social Services. Bonander explains that the funding the MGH Social Service Department receives is used to help with added expenses for patients and their families that insurance or other agencies cannot cover.

United Way funds have been used to help pay for lodging for out-of-town patients whose families must stay in Boston for extended periods of time. They also have been used to help patients pay for emergency childcare and immediate short-term daily living expenses while awaiting longer-term assistance. The Social Service Department at the MGH also refers many patients and families to United Way agencies that help them with additional needs, such as after-school programs or disease-specific programs.

"I have to make the trek to Boston every two months, but my social worker, Sue Streeter [MSW, LICSW], is always there for me, like a guardian angel," says Carole, who had a liver transplant in 1995 and has been coming to the MGH from upstate New York for follow-up care since then. She receives assistance from the Social Service Department because she cannot pay the full cost of repeated stays at MGH at the Y, which provides temporary lodging for out-of-town patients and families.

"I feel secure knowing that Social Services is available and has access to the resources that I need when I come to Boston for treatment," she says.

Funding from the United Way is awarded to the MGH Social Service Department when there is an increase in the dollars raised from one year to the next. For example, in 1998 the MGH exceeded the dollars raised by the employee campaign in 1997 and a portion of those excess funds were given directly to the MGH.

"Giving is an extraordinary thing," says Bonander. "MGHers have the opportunity to share their resources and can feel good that their contributions are used wisely by United Way agencies and the Social Service Department."

Bonander encourages MGHers to contribute to the United Way through the employee campaign. Pledge cards were recently distributed through Payroll. For more information, call Patrick Jordan, campaign coordinator, at 6-1667.