![\"Family](\"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Family-Health-Care-sign-8-12-15.jpg\")
<\/a>In June, Brown urged HHS Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell to release outstanding grant funding to help Ohio health centers meet the demand for services.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunity health centers in Ohio and across the U.S. are critical access points for underserved patients,\u201d said Brown.<\/b> \u201cThis funding will help Family Health Care of Northwest Ohio continue to provide local residents with quality and affordable primary and preventive health care services.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are extremely excited to have been awarded this grant,\u201d said Family Health Care Director Jennifer Smith. \u201cOur staff and Board of Directors have been working long and hard to achieve this goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith said the grant would help fully fund the agency and provide a needed service for local low-income families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have recognized the need to provide dental services to low-income individuals in our community; this grant was written with an emphasis on funding for a dental clinic,\u201d Smith noted. \u201cReceiving these grant dollars will make it possible for Family Health Care to provide these much-needed services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith said the grant would also allow Family Health Care to hire additional staff and, eventually, offer additional services to better meet the needs of the patients it serves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited and looking forward to the future of FHC,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Board President Shirley Jarvis was also pleased to receive the $1 million grant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe, as a board, are thrilled to become a fully-funded health center,\u201d Jarvis said. \u201cIt is a goal we have had and worked toward for many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud of the health center\u2019s growth and success (and) we look forward, and are excited, to provide more and varied health care opportunities to the Van Wert community,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n