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Timeline of the Highmark Caring Foundation and the Highmark Caring Place

The Highmark Caring Foundation was established in 1985 with the mission of identifying unmet needs of children and families and creating innovative programs to serve them. After more than a decade of focus on the needs of uninsured children, in 1996 the Caring Foundation created the Highmark Caring Place to provide support to children and families who have had a family member die.

Year Event

1985

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield (then Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Blue Shield) establishes the Caring Foundation
Caring Program for Children launched

1987–1996

Caring Program replicated in 26 states

1989

Caring Team for Children (partnership with schools) launched

1993

Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrolls first child

1994

Inaugural Celebrity Golf Classic for Children with the Pittsburgh Steelers

1996

Inaugural Pittsburgh Center for Grieving Children group

1997

Caring Place facility dedicated in Pittsburgh
Federal CHIP legislation (S-CHIP) signed into law

2001

Caring Place facility in Erie dedicated

2003

Caring Place facility in Lemoyne (Harrisburg region) dedicated

2004

Children with Special Health Care Needs Program launched

2006–2011

Grieving Centers across Pa. trained in Caring Place model

2008

Children's Grief Awareness Day launched

2009

Caring Place facility in Warrendale (Cranberry region) dedicated

2010

Caring Place Social Media presence established

2012

Summer Camp program for grieving children and teens in Erie launched

2013

School Services program created

2014

School-based grief support group program launched

2015

30th anniversary of the Highmark Caring Foundation

2017

20th anniversary of the Highmark Caring Place