First Award from Texas Endowment Created with Attorney’s Tobacco Settlement Proceeds To Aid Low-Income Families with Health Services

The first disbursement from an endowment fund created with $10 million donated by a lawyer in Harris County, Texas, will fund health programs for breast-feeding mothers, children with dental needs and infants from low-income families, the Houston Chronicle reports. Attorney Richard Mithoff, who represented Harris County during the 1998 national tobacco settlement proceedings, donated $10 million of his $20 million fee to create the endowment. "Our goal was to make sure these funds were used for children, and we especially wanted to make sure those kids who fall through the cracks and are not covered by a county or federal program could be covered," Mithoff said. To ensure the funds are directed toward children, a special committee chaired by Mithoff's wife, Ginni, was formed to review annually applications for funding. Ginni Mithoff announced last week that the endowment's first $300,000 disbursement will be divided among a program providing support to breast-feeding mothers of children born at two Harris County hospitals; a program that uses visiting nurses to assist parents with "high-risk newborns"; a program that improves follow-up care for children treated in the Pediatrics Clinic at Houston's Ben Taub Hospital; a mobile health program aimed at improving physical fitness of children from low-income families; and a district health center that provides dental care for children with "serious ... problems." She added that the endowment, which will be administered by the Harris County Hospital District Foundation, expects to make similar awards in future years (Brewer, Houston Chronicle, 5/31).