CAVU
From Healthy Family Wiki
The CAVU Difference
CAVU is a 501c.3 public charity whose mission is to identify and support innovative community programs and services that enhance the healthcare of underserved children.
CAVU provides funding and technical assistance to help innovative projects and programs in pediatric healthcare take root and grow. We seek to be a catalyzing force within local communities to enable quality healthcare services for children and families in need. In addition to our funding, our program support includes data collections systems-building, sustainability planning, and facilitation of additional funding.
CAVU works with community health centers across Massachusetts on a variety of critical pediatric health needs. Community health centers are a key access point for underserved populations, providing primary, preventive and dental care, as well as mental health, substance abuse and other community-based services to anyone in need regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. Our programs at community health centers fall into two major initiatives/focus areas: Healthy Weight and Healthy Minds. For more about our specific programs, follow the links to the left.
CAVU reached several milestones in 2008, including the completion of our first pilot project and the launch of our first multi-health center initiative. These changes have given us the opportunity to reflect on what has worked in the past, what we would like to achieve in the future, and how we plan to get there. At its core, the success of CAVU and our programs depends on our hands-on leadership and the synergy between three important components: leaders, ideas, and institutions.
Guiding Principles
CAVU adheres to the following guiding principles to determine where we can have the greatest impact:
Sustainability
Successful CAVU-funded programs should continue beyond CAVU involvement. CAVU will identify opportunities where we believe that the engagement will result in a substantial improvement in the program’s ability to sustain its activities beyond the life of CAVU's involvement. We will structure the support and length of each engagement with the goal of sustainability in mind.
Attainable Goals and Strong Leadership
CAVU will seek well-defined engagements that have clear goals and strong leadership. The supporting organization for each project or program must have a strong commitment to the success of the project and be in a position to provide the necessary ingredients for success as defined by the engagement.
Measurability
CAVU seeks to determine the elements that make certain methods and approaches successful while also identifying pitfalls to be avoided. We can apply this knowledge to our own efforts as well as sharing information with target organizations. We will also develop our data as an asset to benefit like-minded philanthropic efforts.
Repeatability
CAVU seeks continuity between engagement opportunities as a way to build on previous experience. CAVU believes that there is value in developing and re-using the institutional knowledge gained in each engagement.
About CAVU
CAVU was born out of a perceived gap in the delivery of patient care-focused philanthropy. Nick Leschly, CAVU's Chairman, was seeking an outlet for his own philanthropy and wasn't satisfied with the traditional options. Nick invited a trusted group of personal friends to explore the options for participating in healthcare philanthropy, and they created CAVU (Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited). They called the organization CAVU in reference to the aeronautical term for perfect flying conditions, since CAVU was created to ensure that children are able to take advantage of limitless possibilities.
From our founding in 2004 through 2008, CAVU has dedicated over $680K and thousands of hours of program support to community health center based programs across Massachusetts.
Acknowledgements
To learn more about the CAVU Foundation, please visit our website at www.cavufoundation.org
