PHILADELPHIA HEALTH PARTNERSHIP

"There’s no second-guessing YPTC’s expertise…"

Since its establishment in 1997, the Philadelphia Health Partnership (PHP), the Foundation for Healthy Communities, has believed that who you are, where you live, how you grow up, and what you do for a living should not limit your chances to thrive. Yet in Philadelphia today, a person’s identity, neighborhood, family background, and economic status – among many other social conditions – are unjustly linked with disparities in health and well-being.

A private, independent foundation, PHP partners with local community-based organizations working to increase access to quality, equitable care and services and address economic and social drivers of health. PHP focuses on advancing equity in health by making grants, building capacity and fostering collaboration. Through grantmaking and advocacy, the Partnership has invested over $30 million in 175 different nonprofits through more than 500 grants that achieve greater equity in health and racial justice, with a special interest in children’s health and development, to improve the health and well-being of people in Philadelphia.

Ann Marie Healy, Executive Director, says they’ve been engaging YPTC for the past 15 years. “Because they focus on nonprofits, YPTC understands us from both an accounting and a mission perspective. Our values align and they have developed strong expertise around private foundations.”

Healy appreciates YPTC’s “deep bench” of staff members. “If we have a question or an issue they can’t answer, there are other experts in the organization which allows them to do a ‘virtual huddle’ to get a quick response,” she says. Healy adds that she appreciates how YPTC staff present information about complicated accounting processes in simple accounting terms that lay people can understand.

“Their presentations to our Board of Directors are competent in the information and advice that they provide. There’s no second-guessing YPTC’s expertise. They engender confidence in what they do,” she says. “Over the years we’ve engaged them to assume more of our accounting functions, from reconciling investment accounts and paying bills to doing financial reporting and assisting with our budget process. Our confidence in their work has grown over the years.

“I appreciate their commitment to the community, especially their activity in nonprofit education and leadership development, which is important for us,” she adds. “They make their staff trainings and work enjoyable, and they celebrate their staff, which we value.”

30-YEAR CONGRATULATIONS: “Our comfort with them has grown as they have grown.”

“We first contracted with YPTC in 2008, so we’ve been with them for half of their 30 years. Over that period they have been able to expand dramatically and nationally without forgetting about their long-term clients. That’s a special aspect of who they are. Our comfort with them has grown as they have grown.”

— Mary Ann Healy, Executive Director

Philadelphia Health Partnership

Philadelphia, Pa.