[July 28, 2016]

Concern America Selected as Semi-Finalist for 2016 Buckminster Fuller Challenge

Concern America's "Health Promoter Practitioner" program has been identified as a 2016 semi-finalist in the Buckminster Fuller Challenge, an annual competition designed to identify and catalyze organizations employing a whole systems approach to problem solving.

Each year, the Buckminster Fuller Institute invites scientists, designers, architects, activists, entrepreneurs, artists and planners from all over the world to submit their innovative solutions to some of humanity's most pressing problems. A $100,000 prize is awarded to support the development and implementation of one outstanding strategy. The proposals submitted have undergone rigorous evaluation for adherence to the Fuller Challenge criteria by the members of a dedicated review committee, corroborating that the finalists' work is visionary, comprehensive, anticipatory, ecologically responsible, feasible, and verifiable.

Concern America empowers local communities in isolated and underserved regions to provide their own medical services. Working with mostly rural, impoverished communities in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico, Concern America trains community members to become Health Promoter Practitioners (HPPs). What sets Concern America apart from any other international medical project is that its goal is not aid but self-reliance.

Thanks to Concern America's efforts, hundreds of thousands of people in isolated communities have primary healthcare services in their own villages. Globally, Concern America is creating the infrastructure for a significant expansion of the HPP model through the completion of its HPP training Manual in 2016. The manual, 'How to Teach About Health,' includes 18 teacher guides and corresponding HPP student manuals, and will allow any organization or institution to implement this truly groundbreaking healthcare model in any locale.

News of Concern America being designated a Fuller Challenge semi-finalist comes in the midst of the organization's "Grow a Global Heart" summer fundraising campaign. The campaign, designed to raise funds to support Concern America's efforts, will include the organization's first annual Summer Celebration fundraiser event, to take place on August 20 at in Santa Ana. Details are listed on Concern America's "Get Involved" calendar: http://concernamerica.org/get-involved/get-involved/get-involved.html

To read more about Concern America, visit: www.concernamerica.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160728006538/en/

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