Blue Cross Foundation Releases Program And DVD On Health And Immigrant Integration

October 23, 2008

EAGAN, Minn. — The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation has developed a 30-minute program and DVD "Shared Values:  Health and Community — Shaping Minnesota's Future with New Americans."

Viewers will meet some of Minnesota's newest arrivals from Myanmar and Cameroon, and go with them as they learn about their new community.  They'll see what a Somali-led organization in Owatonna is doing to help newcomers and long-time residents better understand each other.  The program also features a diversity coalition in Greater Minnesota working to identify common goals across cultures to create visible, tangible community improvements that benefit all its residents.

The program explores how individuals and communities become more interconnected and healthier when there are strong social support networks and opportunities for people to become involved in their community and bond together.

"How well both immigrants and receiving communities are able to draw on their strengths and overcome the challenges will affect the health and vitality of the state, now and into the future," says Joan Cleary, vice president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation.  "This program offers strategies for individuals and organizations to reach across cultures and build healthier, inclusive communities."

The program will air on Minnesota Channel 17 on Saturday, October 25 at 9 p.m.  The DVD is available at no charge at www.bcbsmnfoundation.org.

"Shared Values:  Health and Community" is part of Healthy Together:  Creating Community with New Americans, a foundation grantmaking initiative designed to reduce health inequities for immigrants and improve the health and vitality of the entire community.  The foundation awards grants for projects that foster exchanges and interactions between newcomers and the receiving community, strengthen the capacity of immigrant-led organizations and their attention to health, and address social adjustment and mental health.

"Shared Values:  Health and Community" is a coproduction of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation and Twin Cities Public Television.  For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, visit us on the Web at www.bcbsmnfoundation.org or call .651.662.3950 or toll free 1.866.812.1593.

About the Blue Cross Foundation
The Blue Cross Foundation's purpose is to look beyond health care today for ideas that create healthier communities tomorrow.  By addressing key social, economic and environmental factors that determine health — beyond genes, lifestyle and access to health care — the foundation's work extends beyond the traditional reach of the health care system to improve community health long-term and close the health gap that affects many Minnesotans.  The foundation has become the state's largest grantmaking foundation to exclusively dedicate its assets to improving health in Minnesota, awarding more than $22 million since it was established in 1986.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Eagan, was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today:  to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota.  A nonprofit, taxable organization, Blue Cross is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering 2.9 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies.  Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago.  Go to bluecrossmn.com to learn more about Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.