San Diego CA— Mama’s Kitchen has been selected as a Cushman Foundation 2020 “Making a Difference for San Diego” grant recipient. The three-year, $100,000 grant will allow the organization to launch a new Chronic Kidney Disease Nutrition Program.
“We are incredibly grateful and honored to have the support of the Cushman Foundation to launch this new program and expand the mission of Mama’s Kitchen to serve an additional critical illness – chronic kidney disease,” says Alberto Cortés, CEO, Mama’s Kitchen. “Research shows medically tailored nutrition intervention can have a significant impact at slowing or stopping the progression of chronic kidney disease. After speaking with many of our referring medical professionals and understanding the number of San Diego residents affected by this disease, it became clear a program like this could have a significant impact on countless lives.”
Mama’s Kitchen, a local nonprofit celebrating its 30th anniversary, provides home-delivered medically tailored meals and nutrition services at no-cost to San Diegans battling critical illnesses, including HIV, cancer, congestive heart failure, type 2 diabetes, and now chronic kidney disease (CKD). The nonprofit’s services allow clients to receive the nutritional support they need without leaving the safety of their home, which makes Mama’s Kitchen’s work even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure its immunocompromised clients are not risking their health and safety to obtain a meal.
“The Cushman Foundation is extremely proud to help Mama’s Kitchen launch this new program,” says Lori Moore with Cushman Foundation. “Addressing the specialized nutritional needs of chronic kidney disease patients will make an enormous difference in the quality of life for many San Diegans.”
CKD is the ninth leading cause of death in the U.S. During the first four stages, individuals can slow and even stop the progression of their illness through diet and lifestyle changes. In San Diego County alone, an estimated 5,000 people are experiencing Stage 4 CKD or End Stage Renal Disease. Research published in Clinical Practice suggests that nearly 40% of senior citizens in the U.S. have been noted to have CKD.
Mama’s Kitchen’s Chronic Kidney Disease Nutrition Program is now accepting client referrals. It is the only San Diego-based nutrition service delivering medically tailored meals and disease self-management education to individuals with CKD at no-cost. Once referred by a medical provider and enrolled, Mama’s Kitchen will home-deliver medically tailored meals designed by a registered dietitian for their individual diagnosis. Additionally, each client receives three months of disease-management education to help clients improve their quality of life and health outcomes, while reducing food insecurity and alleviating pressure on our health care system. The organization will also deliver meals to clients’ dependent children if needed at no-cost.
“For many San Diegans, this program can mean the difference between disease self-management rather than months or even years of life on dialysis or waiting for a kidney transplant,” says Cortés. “Launching this program would not have been possible without the Cushman Foundation and this grant.”