The Mercy Foundation’s Healthy Kids Outreach Program (HKOP) celebrates 10 years!

Ten years of helping kids throughout our county have the best possible health and educational opportunities for personal success. Healthy Kids Outreach Program,  HKOP, helps Douglas County kids be at their very best; happy, healthy and productive citizens of the future. The health attitudes and behaviors of kids have already improved in the four short years HKOP has been in our schools.

The Healthy Kids Outreach Program helps improve the basic health of children in Douglas County in three ways:

DENTAL SCREENINGS AND TREATMENTS- With generous grants from the Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, Ronald McDonald Charities, the Walmart Foundation, and Advantage Dental, Healthy Kids staff started rolling out the addition of onsite dental clinics in 2011.  Students receive a dental screening, sealants, and fluoride varnishes to protect them from getting cavities and they go home with a report card and dental kits that include a toothbrush, toothpaste and floss.

HEALTHY EDUCATION - The Healthy Kids Outreach Program provides comprehensive health education at area schools, teaching kids how to stay healthy and make healthy choices. Educating kids on the fundamentals of personal and dental hygiene, communicable disease prevention, nutrition, exercise and heart health, and character development ensure a healthier community long into the future.

CONNECTION TO CARE - The Healthy Kids Outreach Program provides connection to appropriate community health care resources for children and families right at school, removing barriers that many of our families face.

About half of our Douglas County children and families live at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guideline, and about half of our kids don't have health insurance. Many of our families face transportation and financial barriers that HKOP helps overcome in our rural school communities.

The Healthy Kids Outreach Program helps Douglas County kids be at their very best; happy, healthy and productive citizens of the future.

We are looking forward to the next ten years of serving local students and also seeing the fruits of our investment: An equal playing field for all kids where the focus is on the health of the kids and making sure every Kid Counts.