Archstone Foundation (Long Beach, CA)

The Archstone Foundation approved two new grants. The funding will help these organizations amplify the voices of older adults, center their experience in systems change advocacy, and provide communications tools to ensure older adults can participate in the advocacy process.

Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) received $150,000 to support Understanding Aging Narrative in California, a project that will develop an older adult-informed assessment of aging narratives across the state. As California’s Master Plan for Aging reaches the midpoint of its 10-year timeline, this work comes at an important moment for strengthening public understanding, political will, and investment in aging.

Through its Solutions Insights Lab, SJN will conduct 60 in-depth interviews and two focus groups with older adults, grantee organizations, advocates, policymakers, and other leaders across California’s elder care ecosystem. Interviews will be conducted in English and Spanish, with particular attention to how older adults and their advocates are telling their stories, where those stories are resonating, and what barriers prevent them from shaping public policy and systems change.

The project will also include a solutions storytelling workshop and the development of a custom web portal to share key insights. By identifying what is working, where knowledge remains disconnected, and what narratives need to shift, this work will help strengthen the field’s narrative power and ensure older adult voices are centered in conversations about California’s health and social care systems.

Sierra Health Foundation received a $27,000 grant to support Protecting the Safety Net, a statewide outreach and communications education campaign focused on impending federal changes to Medi-Cal and CalFresh. The grant is part of a larger pooled fund supporting a strategic communications effort in partnership with state agencies, philanthropic funders, and trusted community messengers.

Federal policy changes, including new work requirements, shorter renewal periods, and eligibility restrictions, threaten coverage and food assistance for millions of Californians. These changes are especially concerning for older adults, people with disabilities, immigrant communities, rural residents, unhoused individuals, and people with limited English proficiency. For many older adults, Medi-Cal helps pay for services not covered by Medicare, including home and community-based supports that allow people to remain in their homes.

The campaign will develop a statewide communications strategy, create multilingual and plain-language materials, and train trusted messengers such as community health workers, promotores, clinic staff, health plans, and community organizations. By supporting this effort, Archstone Foundation will help ensure that older adults and other vulnerable Californians are considered in outreach strategies and receive clear, accurate information about how to maintain access to care and benefits.

Cambia Health Foundation (Portland, OR)

The U.S. health care system focuses on treating disease but too often fails to address factors like housing instability, food insecurity, and lack of behavioral health care access that are also fundamental to a person’s overall health and well-being. Cambia Health Foundation is committed to bridging that divide, announcing more than $500,000 in grants to expand and support integrated primary care teams across Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

Evidence shows that integrated primary care improves health outcomes and reduces overall costs for both individuals and entire communities. These care teams are essential to transforming the health care experience by addressing physical, behavioral, and social needs in a whole-person approach.

Grant recipients include community health centers, rural hospitals, mobile health care clinics, and community-based organizations on the front lines of serving populations experiencing higher rates of poverty, insurance gaps, complex health needs, and barriers to care. Grantees include:

  • Bingham Healthcare
  • Cascadia Health
  • CHAS Health
  • Community Health Centers, Inc.
  • La Clinica
  • MAVEN Project
  • One Community Health
  • Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences
  • Seattle Roots Community Health, STEP Clinic
  • Tacoma Fire Department CARES
  • Unity Care NW, The Way Station

Selected organizations are pursuing a range of strategies driven by local needs, including workforce training and career development, wellness programs that address burnout and support resilience, technology to expand remote access to care and more.

Contact Whitney Grisewood at 503.412.7970 or Whitney.Grisewood@cambiahealth.com.

The Foundation for a Healthy High Point (High Point, NC)

The Foundation for a Healthy High Point announced its Spring 2026 Impact Grant awards. Twelve nonprofit organizations serving community health needs in High Point, North Carolina, will receive a combined total of $898,574. The grants support program expansion, nonprofit capacity-building and collaborative efforts addressing underlying health factors, such as behavioral health, early childhood education and literacy, housing, food access, economic mobility, youth and family support, and civic engagement.

The Spring Impact Awards include capacity building support, programming, and collaborative partnerships which directly impact social determinants of health through either operational support or programmatic funding. Areas of note include:

  • Expanding youth and family support: Programs that promote literacy, mentorship, leadership development, sports participation, parenting resilience, including reading, mental health, and opportunities for economic mobility for low-to-moderate income youth, parents, and caregivers.
  • Building nonprofit capacity: General operating support for organizations addressing critical gaps in services and access related to improving social determinants of health in the community.
  • Strengthening upstream conditions for health: Investments in collaborative efforts that bring together the strengths of multiple organizations for shared resources and stronger impact.
  • Supporting immigrant and new refugee families through mentorship, access to resources, and community navigation support.

Health related grants include:

  • Veterans Bridge Home—to increase access to health care through partnership referrals, providing a more integrated approach to care coordination for veterans and their families. ($20,000)
  • Alcohol & Drug Services of Guilford—to provide continued support for the Be Strong Families Parent Cafés, a peer-to-peer mentoring and parent training program, allowing ADS to deepen the training for parent/caregiver facilitators and expand Café locations. ($50,000)
  • Open Door Ministries—to support expanded access to on-site mental health counseling for individuals experiencing homelessness and will provide emergency intervention training to frontline client-facing staff members. ($18,000)

With these Spring 2026 awards, the foundation has approved more than $22 million in grant funding since its inception, representing more than 300 grants supporting organizations and initiatives serving the Greater High Point community.

Contact: Curtis Holloman at 336.822.7740 or cholloman@healthyhighpoint.org

 

The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts (Worcester, MA)

The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts has awarded over $1 million in grants to 10 nonprofit organizations serving the region. The Activation Fund grants support a wide range of organizations as they build capacity and strengthen their effectiveness in addressing community-identified health issues.

The Activation Fund received a record number of applications this year, reflecting strong community demand for resources that address critical health needs. In 2026, the Activation Fund is supporting organizations working to improve behavioral health, expand food access, increase housing stability, advance youth opportunities, and address the social factors that shape people’s health. Thirty percent of the 2026 grant recipients are receiving grant funding from The Health Foundation for the first time.

The grant awards, totaling $1,018,398, are as follows:

  • Ascentria Care Alliance—to create a regional Memory Care Center of Excellence by training staff and up to three partnering community organizations as certified dementia care trainers and integrating evidence-based practices into its ongoing workforce development model. ($85,036)
  • Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance—to furnish and equip its new Resource Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, that provides people experiencing homelessness with access to showers, laundry, rest space, and supportive services. ($118,411)
  • Community Harvest Project—to build a second protected growing tunnel and upgrade irrigation at its North Grafton farm, enabling the organization to grow more fresh produce year-round for hunger relief partners across Central Massachusetts. ($101,980)
  • Community Health Connections—to renovate counseling and group spaces adjacent to its Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic in downtown Fitchburg, Massachusetts, for an intensive youth behavioral health day treatment program serving ages 12–21 that aims to reduce strain on local hospital emergency departments. ($124,875)
  • Growing Places—to add a loading dock and ramp and convert unfinished classrooms into office space at its Gardner Regional Food Center, improving local food aggregation, production, distribution, and coordination. ($113,096)
  • Our Bright Future—to install a fire sprinkler system in its new Southbridge Innovation Hub, allowing it to open a centralized youth development and educational center serving up to 1,000 students each year through STEM education, workforce development, social-emotional learning, and community programming. ($125,000)
  • Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts—to renovate the space and improve security at its Worcester, Massachusetts, health center, creating additional patient consultation rooms and expanding access to reproductive health services in a safe, secure environment. ($114,000)
  • Project Just Because—to upgrade loading docks and purchase new warehouse equipment, which will reduce the physical workload on staff and volunteers while increasing safety, efficiency, and its ability to distribute food and essential items to families in need. ($40,000)
  • South Middlesex Opportunity Council—to renovate its Chandler Street Women’s Services Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, expanding capacity for the women’s emergency shelter by about 40 percent in response to rising community needs. ($75,000)
  • Wayside Youth & Family Support Network—to purchase furnishings and essential equipment for a new, expanded Charlton Community Services site that triples its footprint in the community and supports the full implementation of its MassHealth Community Service Agency contract serving 27 South County communities. ($121,000)

Contact: Izzy Nickel at 617.243.9950 or izzy@ballcg.com.

Mat-Su Health Foundation (Wasilla, AK)

Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) will award 561 Mat-Su residents more than $2.9 million to pursue higher education in the fields of health and human services. MSHF’s academic scholarships aim to grow the Valley’s health care workforce while reducing students’ financial burden for education. Individual awards range from $2,000 to $9,000 and fund attendance at both in- and out-of-state universities.

Started in 2008, the foundation’s scholarship program has consistently adapted to the ever-growing population of the Mat-Su. This year marks the highest number of applicants and the highest amount of funds awarded. The needs-based program is designed to aid students who might not otherwise have access to higher education opportunities.

Scholarship recipients reflect a wide range of educational goals and backgrounds. While some are just starting their academic journeys as incoming college freshmen, others are active in their professional fields. Of the 561 recipients, 51 percent are renewing their scholarships to continue their education in health and human services.

The health and human services fields are filled with strong employment opportunities and career pathways, provide purposeful work for residents, and foster economic mobility. Scholarship recipients span across the entire borough, with career pathways ranging from nursing, behavioral health, and diagnostic services to early childhood education, public health, and special education.

In addition to academic scholarships, applications for vocational, professional development, and training scholarships are open year-round.

For more information about the MSHF scholarship program, click here.

Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust (Winston-Salem, NC)

The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust will increase its grantmaking by 50 percent, from $20 million to $30 million, for the second consecutive fiscal year. The Trust’s fiscal 2027 began September 1, 2026 and runs through August 31, 2027, with four grant cycles each fiscal year. The Trust approved the additional $10 million for fiscal 2026 in mid-February.

The Trust described the increase as a response to historic disinvestment by federal and local governments in public resources that communities across Forsyth County and North Carolina rely on. Mrs. Reynolds established the Trust to improve the health and quality of life of people experiencing poverty in Forsyth County and across North Carolina, and the Trust said meeting that mission now requires both long-term systems work and a response to the immediate crisis.

In the prior fiscal year, the Trust directed additional dollars statewide in response to state cuts to legal services and federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. It also invested in grassroots organizations, particularly those serving immigrant communities, and in local news providers reporting on policy changes affecting North Carolinians. In Forsyth County, the Trust responded to federal cuts to food banks and other safety net organizations, made a $1 million commitment to help address funding shortfalls in the school system, and invested in the capacity and wellness of nonprofit and community organizations facing rising demand for services.

The Trust noted that no amount of additional grantmaking can cover the gap created by federal cuts to programs such as Medicaid and SNAP, but that adjusting for a second year provides more responsive dollars to address urgent needs and maintain critical infrastructure. The Trust was established to exist in perpetuity and remains committed to that structure.

For more information about the Trust’s adjusted grantmaking, click here.

Virginia Health Care Foundation (Richmond, VA)

The Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF) has awarded more than $2.7 million in grants to 19 organizations across the Commonwealth to expand access to behavioral health, primary medical, dental, and pharmacy services for uninsured and underinsured Virginians. The awards will help health care organizations across the Commonwealth expand capacity, strengthen school-based health services, and improve access to essential dental, medical, and pharmacy services for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians.

  • Arlington Free Clinic—for a clinical expansion of AFC’s Behavioral Health Program. ($77,800)
  • Augusta Regional Dental Clinic—to hire a full-time dentist. ($110,000)
  • ChildSavers—for behavioral health services for pregnant and postpartum women, and other caregivers. ($95,288)
  • ChildSavers—to strengthen mental health services provided at an elementary school in Colonial Heights. ($95,288)
  • CrossOver Healthcare Ministry—for renovations and equipment that will expand dental capacity. ($150,000)
  • Five18 Family Services—to subsidize pre-licensed clinicians working toward licensure while providing mental health services at an elementary and primary school in Appomattox, Virginia. ($117,000)
  • Free Clinic of Powhatan—to expand its medical clinic, enabling it to double the number of patients served. ($112,500)
  • Free Clinic of Powhatan—to expand dental and dental hygiene capacity. ($21,777)
  • Goochland Powhatan Community Services—to underwrite a school-based mental health clinician serving students at two Goochland County elementary schools. ($113,500)
  • Piedmont Access to Health Services—to hire a psychiatric nurse practitioner to expand mental health medication management services in South Central Virginia. ($100,000)
  • Rockbridge Area Health Center—to hire a full-time family nurse practitioner at a new school-based health center in Buena Vista; and support counseling services at two school-based health centers in Rockbridge County, Virginia. ($247,500 for two grants)
  • Sinclair Health Clinic—for pharmacy renovations and equipment for its new clinic building. ($125,000)
  • Southern Dominion Health System—to fund a full-time pharmacist position in a new community pharmacy in Victoria, Virginia. ($100,000)
  • Tri-Area Community Health—to fund a full-time Family Nurse Practitioner position for a new school-based health center in Patrick County, Virginia; and support mental health services at school-based health centers in Carroll and Grayson Counties in Virginia. ($215,523 for two grants)
  • The Women’s Center—to hire a full-time Resident in Counseling to expand access to therapy. ($57,750)
  • Youth For Tomorrow—to expand outpatient behavioral health services in Rappahannock County, Virginia, by hiring a pre-licensed counselor. ($75,400)

VHCF also awarded more than $850,000 in Outreach and Enrollment Grants to fund 13 Project Connect Outreach workers across Virginia placed at eight sites. During the past year alone, these outreach specialists helped 5,463 Virginians enroll in Medicaid coverage by providing trusted, community-based enrollment assistance.

For more information about VHCF, click here.

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