CHESTMembership & CommunityPhilanthropyImpact ReportCommunity Impact

Community Impact

Translating support into frontline action

3
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
ORGANIZATIONS

$15K
DISTRIBUTED TO
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

$75K
IN COMMUNITY IMPACT
GRANTS AWARDED

Burton Lesnick, MD, FCCP

Pillar Champion

Salim Surani, MD, FCCP

Pillar Champion

Community Impact is where donor investment most directly intersects with patients and the lived realities of lung health. Through this pillar, CHEST directs philanthropic dollars toward community-rooted programs and partners who are already doing meaningful work, strengthening their reach, deepening their impact, and extending the influence of chest medicine beyond traditional clinical settings.

Our 2025 CHEST Community Impact grantees included:

A program that provides tailored exercise, nutrition, and mental health interventions for patients prior to lung transplant to improve outcomes
Expansion of a successful Lung Health Ambassador Program that equips trusted community leaders with education and tools to serve as credible messengers for lung health, expanding reach, cultural relevance, and trust in ways traditional models cannot
Support of an initiative that provides a community for children with tracheostomies and their families, addressing not only medical needs but belonging, confidence, and quality of life

In Chicago, for CHEST 2025, the generosity of our donors allowed us to support three exceptional local organizations—CommunityHealth, Chicago Asthma Coalition, and Mobile Care Chicago—with $5,000 each to provide essential health services and confront health disparities directly.

Your support funds initiatives that improve respiratory health where it’s needed most—through education, access to care, and community-driven solutions. Make a gift today to help expand these programs and address growing lung health challenges in 2026. MAKE A GIFT »

"The Chicago Asthma Consortium (CAC) was very grateful for being among the 2025 CHEST Community Connections recipients. Through this opportunity, the CAC was able to present its programs in front of many new and old partners, form new partnerships, network with the many participants, and learn from the other Community Connections recipients."

– Rachelle Paul-Brutus
Chicago Asthma Consortium Executive Director

CHEST Board of Advisors member, Jay Peters, MD, FCCP, provides asthma education.

The CHEST Board of Regents volunteering to teach asthma education.

CHEST Board Member, Michael Nelson, MD, FCCP, provides asthma education.

CHEST Board of Regents facilitated a morning of asthma basics education that included roughly 25 students sharing their own asthma journeys and perspectives on barriers to care.

Engaging our community

Hennepin Healthcare Talent Garden CHEST Scholars pose for a picture with CHEST President Dr. John Howington

Inspiring future medical professionals

With the support of donors, CHEST and Hennepin Healthcare partnered to create the first group of Hennepin Healthcare Talent Garden CHEST Scholars. This included a six-week, paid internship at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis and an invitation to experience a few days of the CHEST Annual Meeting. Highlights of their time on-site included:

A dedicated panel about career preparedness with CHEST leaders Gabriel Bosslet, MD, FCCP; R. Derek Collier, MD, FCCP; Kristina Ramirez, RRT, RRT-ACCS, FCCP; and Debasree Banerjee, MD, MS, FCCP
Presenting posters of their research in the Exhibit Hall
A special session with Sanofi Global Medical Affairs Director Paul Rowe, MD, about medical research careers in pharma

Strengthening the care team pipeline

For the first time, CHEST partnered with six schools across Illinois to welcome more than 135 respiratory therapy students for a full day of educational content and networking at CHEST 2025. The students attended sessions and interacted with the CHEST Respiratory Care Interest Group Steering Committee.

Delivering asthma care

With the support of a CHEST grant in 2000, Mobile Care Chicago was able to provide free medical and preventative care to the pediatric population without access in their own communities using a mobile asthma care van. Now, with their 2025 CHEST Community Impact grant, they plan to expand into adult care.

Expanding your impact, one community at a time

Your gift to the Community Impact pillar supports CHEST’s thoughtful, participatory approach to grantmaking. It enables investment in programs shaped by local insight, guided by clinician engagement, and focused on practical outcomes for patients and families. These grants extend the reach of CHEST and its members beyond traditional settings and help ensure that resources are deployed where they can have meaningful, sustained impact.

By supporting Community Impact, you are helping fund credible, community-driven solutions important to our members that improve lung health and patient outcomes. Make a gift today to advance equitable, effective care through partnerships grounded in real-world need.

MAKE YOUR GIFT TODAY