Heartland Alliance Health to remain open thanks to 'multimillion-dollar' grant
Heartland Alliance Health will remain open thanks to a "multimillion-dollar" grant secured after last week's news that the social services nonprofit will be closing because of financial troubles.
On Feb. 11, the social services nonprofit announced it would be shutting down and laying off the 113 people employed at the organization's two health clinics and three food pantries.
"We are grateful to share that Heartland Alliance Health announced this morning that they will remain open," Michael Brieschke, Heartland Alliance Union's chairperson, told the Sun-Times. "All notices of layoffs will be rescinded, and all operations at the clinics and food pantries will continue."
Brieschke said the grant was given after Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore learned about the closures in the news and reached out to Heartland Alliance Health's leadership to see how he could help. Moore connected the nonprofit to One Health, a Michigan-based primary care provider.
One Health has given Heartland Alliance Health a "multimillion-dollar" grant, Brieschke said, but he did not know the exact amount.
"All Heartland employees will continue to support one another as we work to heal the damage the announcement of closing has caused," Brieschke said. "Trust has been breached on many levels during the last few weeks, but I hope the partnership with OneHealth will be sustainable and bring some much-needed positive change to HAH."
Heartland Alliance Health was once a part of Heartland Alliance, one of Chicago's largest and longest-running social service organizations. The nonprofit divided into four separate entities last year: Heartland Human Care Services, Heartland Alliance Health, Heartland Alliance International and the National Immigrant Justice Center.