Morgan Stanley, New York City, is expanding its Healthy Cities philanthropy program to New Orleans.
The financial services firm made the announcement on May 20 and officially started the program in New Orleans with a playground build at Forest Charter School. In working together with Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans, the program aims to provide more than 1,000 children in need and their families with more than 600,000 healthy meals, 1,800 medical screenings, expanded nutrition education programs and safe play spaces, according to a media release.
The Healthy Cities program launched in June 2014 with a goal of fueling innovation in coordinating the wellness, nutrition and play resources that support a child's healthy start in life. Morgan Stanley collaborates with national and local non-profit organizations to connect separate programs and create a linked package of wellness education and screenings, nutritional foods and safe play spaces for children in neighborhoods in need. Healthy Cities has served more than 1.29 million healthy meals, 4,447 medical screenings for children and built playgrounds for 7,000 children to date.
Healthy Cities New Orleans will work with local and national nonprofits, including KaBOOM!, Grow Dat Youth Farm, 505 Health Ne, and local schools to integrate their respective programming and deliver it in a hub model to communities in need. Morgan Stanley employees are expected to provide more than 2,000 hours of volunteer service in implementing and sustaining the programming.
“Through Healthy Cities New Orleans, we are proud to partner with incredible, local nonprofits to leverage the work they are doing here in the city and deliver more services to children and families that improve early childhood health,” Joan Steinberg, global head of philanthropy, Morgan Stanley, said in a statement. “Our unique Healthy Cities model of creating hubs for essential health programming has had great success in cities around the globe, and we are excited to help enhance and expand health, wellness and nutrition for children in New Orleans.”
Healthy Cities first launched in Chicago before expanding to Oakland, California; Newark, New Jersey; London; Cleveland, Ohio; Houston and Mumbai. The Healthy Cities initiative builds on Morgan Stanley’s Global Alliance for Children’s Health, which has invested in innovations in pediatric care so more children can get healthy starts in life. The flagship of the Global Alliance efforts is the firm's 43-year relationship with the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian.