The Sentara Health Foundation has announced it will award 29 grants to organizations devoted to improving community health, including several with direct ties to Suffolk.

The grants total $709,200 in direct aid to the organizations.

Two Suffolk-based recipients are on the list. The first is the Western Tidewater Free Clinic, which offers free medical care to residents of a 1,400-square-mile region that includes Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Southampton and Franklin.

The $25,000 grant will allow the free clinic to expand the hours of its physician and associate medical director, enabling the organization to offer its services to at least 500 more patients this year, many of whom have chronic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

The clinic, which is served by a part-time physician, a nurse practitioner and volunteers, serves a population that has been especially hard hit by the economy, including a large percentage of uninsured and underinsured residents.

About 200 patients are currently on the clinic’s waiting list.

The other Suffolk-based recipient, the Suffolk Salvation Army Corps, will receive $10,000 to provide low-income frail and elderly residents with transportation to medical appointments, pharmacies and wellness clinics throughout Western Tidewater.

Other organizations with local ties garnering grants this year are ForKids Inc. and The Up Center.

ForKids, which operates the Suffolk House, a shelter for homeless families, will receive $25,000 to provide its clients with medical case management services.

The Up Center will receive $10,000 to expand services offered by the Seeking Safety program, a collaboration addressing the mental health needs of women who have suffered domestic violence, homelessness and other trauma.

Other grant recipients will include the following:

Access Partnership: $50,000 to expand the service area of the Community Access to Care Program

American Red Cross Dental Clinic: $20,000 to expand the number of dental appointments available

Beach Health Clinic: $20,000 to provide medical services to low-income residents

Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia: $23,000 to support the Training and Therapy for the Uninsured Program

Chesapeake Care Inc.: $13,000 to provide health education to people with diabetes

Community Free Clinic of Newport News: $179,200 to help establish a medical and dental clinic

Foundation for Rehabilitation Equipment and Endowment: $10,000 to refurbish mobility equipment

Gloucester-Mathews Free Clinic: $15,000 for a prescription program

H.E.L.P. Inc.: $10,000 for free dental care

Lackey Free Clinic: $20,000 for basic health services to people with hypertension

Olde Town Medical Center: $29,000 for dental services in Williamsburg

Peninsula Institute for Community Health: $28,000 for the Medical Home Learning Collaborative on Developmental Screening

Portsmouth Community Health Center Inc: $60,000 for a full-time physician

RxPartnership: $15,000 to connect clinic patients with medicine

Seton Youth Shelters, $12,500 for the Mobile Street and Van Outreach Program

St. Columba Ecumenical Ministries: $15,000 for the Prescription Program

Union Mission Ministries: $35,000 for the Wellness Program

Virginia Supportive Housing: $10,000 to expand services

Williamsburg Area Faith in Action: $8,000 for the Caring Neighbors Program

Mary Buckley Foundation Inc.: $5,000 for the “Put Your Brain in Gear” project

Peninsula Agency on Aging: $5,000 for the Care Coordination Program

Sickle Cell Association: $15,025 to help people deal with the disease

Southside Geropsychiatric Services: $6,475 for the Senior Care Training initiative

Chesapeake Health Investment Program: $20,000 for prenatal services in Chesapeake and Portsmouth

City of Newport News Office of Human Affairs: $15,000 for the Resource Mothers Program