The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation
(Detroit, MI)
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation recently awarded three research grants to Michigan researchers. Among the grantees are:
- Michigan State University, Sarah Comstock, PhD—to assess the type and dosage of antibiotics prescribed during pregnancy and determine the type and extent of antibiotic exposure for a pregnant woman and her child. ($70,000)
- University of Michigan, Maria Woodward, MD, MS—to develop a validated risk assessment tool to help primary care providers distinguish corneal infections from less serious anterior eye complaints. ($70,000)
- University of Michigan, Philip Zazove, MD—to determine whether there is a relationship between hearing loss and hospital readmissions. ($70,000)
Contact: Jacqueline Paul
Phone: 313.225.7520
Email: foundation@bcbsm.com
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation
(Durham, NC)
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation approved its 1,000th grant—a milestone marking 19 years of commitment to improving the health and well-being of North Carolinians. The notable grant is a four-year, $635,000 investment in the Piedmont Triad Regional Development Corporation to support the launch of a model regional food policy council that engages community members, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and businesses in creating an inclusive, healthy, and resilient food system in the Piedmont Triad region.
This grant continues the foundation’s longstanding commitment to advancing food system reform to expand access to healthy food, and it aligns with two of the organization’s strategic approaches, supporting communities to take action to influence health and advancing policy and systems change.
The foundation has partnered with organizations across North Carolina in making the health care system more accessible, addressing childhood obesity, improving access to dental care, supporting community-centered health, and building capacity of the nonprofit sector, among many other pursuits. Today, the sum of these investments in North Carolina communities totals more than $135 million.
This milestone coincides with the expansion of the organization’s Community-Centered Health work and its growing commitment to improving health equity through a strategy that includes a focus on supporting individuals, organizations, and communities to recognize and act on the root causes of poor health and health inequities.
Contact: Amon Marstiller
Phone: 919.451.0096
Email: amon.marstiller@bcbsncfoundation.org
Blue Shield of California Foundation
(San Francisco, CA)
Blue Shield of California Foundation approved a set of breakthrough grants that will improve Californians’ health through initiatives to reduce violence, change systems, ensure a fair and accurate census, and create new opportunities for community strength and family well-being.
The foundation is investing nearly $1 million in a coordinated effort to explore and evaluate the use of restorative justice practices to address domestic violence, and to disseminate evidence-based practices across the state. Restorative justice aligns community and survivor interests with strategies to transform the behavior of harm-doers while creating opportunities for healing, both in homes and in communities. The Contra Costa Family Justice Center Alliance will use $660,000 to develop the pilot and Impact Justice will receive a training grant of $325,000 to disseminate findings.
To advance a vision of a California that is free from gender-based violence, we are exploring ways to influence financial systems to break the cycle of domestic violence. A $225,000 grant to the Criterion Institute, a nonprofit research institute, will support coordination among investors, philanthropists, and diverse social change experts to mobilize capital investments in businesses that promote positive social norms, and to support the engagement of California stakeholders, train movement leaders on finance as a tool for social change, and establish relationships between asset managers and grassroots leaders.
Building on the success of the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative, which over the last three years has seeded community-driven collaboratives to improve health and well-being, it is expanding its support to advance this promising model through a $2.1 million grant to Community Partners.
As Census 2020 nears, the foundation is significantly increasing its investment to ensure a fair and accurate count in the state. A complete count will protect our political voice and the federal services, programs, and projects that Californians need. According to a recent projection by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, nearly 800,000 Californians could be missed in next year’s census. Groups that are at highest risk of an undercount include residents of rural areas, immigrants, and young children of color. Through $600,000 in new grants, it is supporting multiple efforts to make sure that the health and well-being of Californians are protected through a fair census.
Additional funding will support health journalism, philanthropic alliances, and a statewide partnership to address and prevent domestic violence. Together, these partners will promote innovative approaches, uncover new research and facilitate community-led collaboration, challenge harmful gender norms, uphold justice for survivors of domestic violence, and ensure a complete count.
For a full list of this quarter’s grants, click here.
Contact: Christine Maulhardt Vaughan
Phone: 415.229.6145
Email: christine.vaughan@blueshieldcafoundation.org
The Foundation of a Health High Point
(High Point, NC)
The Foundation for a Healthy High Point approved a total of $478,800 in grants to local nonprofits. $459,800 was approved as part of the foundation’s Spring Traditional Grant Cycle. Approximately 65 percent of the awarded funds were for programs addressing Behavioral Health. In addition, Small Grants Program awards were approved totaling $19,000 to two nonprofit organizations.
The following are Traditional Cycle Grants:
- Children’s Home Society of North Carolina—to assist with a continuum of teen pregnancy prevention services. ($25,000)
- Family Service of the Piedmont—to continue assistance with the Integrated Care Program. ($200,000)
- Guilford County DHHS, Division of Public Health—to assist with the Family Connects Program. ($91,800)
- Guilford Non-Profit Consortium—to assist with strengthening nonprofit organizations. ($18,000)
- Mental Health Associates of the Triad—to assist with the expansion of the Court Services Program. ($100,000)
- Ready for School, Ready for Life—to assist with increasing non-profit organizational capacity. ($25,000)
The following are Small Grants Program awards:
- A Simple Gesture—to assist with increasing organizational capacity. ($9,500)
- NC MedAssist—to assist with supporting a medications distribution program. ($9,500)
Since inception, the foundation has approved $9,452,915 to serve the Greater High Point community.
Contact: Tina Markanda
Phone: 336.822.7740
Email: tmarkanda@healthyhighpoint.org
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
(Agoura Hills, CA)
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation approved 15 grants totaling more than $18.9 million during the second quarter of 2019. These grants were awarded to 14 organizations spanning across the Hilton Foundation’s program areas, both in the United States and internationally. Following is an overview of health-related grants awarded in the second quarter of 2019:
- The Addiction Medicine Foundation—to support efforts to build the addiction medicine workforce and improve capacity to provide prevention and early intervention. ($1.7 million)
- Catholic Health Association of India—to build the capacity of Indian Catholic sisters in leadership, resource management and community health delivery through training and technology platforms. ($750,000)
- Community Catalyst, Inc.—to conduct policy and advocacy activities to increase financing for SBIRT and other youth substance use disorder services. ($1.515 million)
- Mercy Foundation—to support the MS Achievement Center serving Sacramento and the Northern California region. ($600,000)
- National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Inc.—to continue implementation and evaluation of a school/community partnership approach for youth SBIRT. ($850,000)
- Portland State University—to continue research and evaluation to further develop model screening and early intervention framework for justice involved youth. ($1.15 million)
- Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles—to support Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl’s research on disability-specific disease modifying treatments in multiple sclerosis. ($1.6 million)
Contact: Courtney Howard
Phone: 818.540.0511
Email: courtney@hiltonfoundation.org
Maine Health Access Foundation
(Augusta, ME)
Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) announced $525,000 in Health Equity Capacity Building grants to seven organizations: Arookstook Band of Micmacs, Mabel Wadsworth Center, Together Place Peer Run Recovery Center, New England Arab American Organization, Somali Bantu Community Association, Survivor Speak USA, and Wabanaki Public Health. These grantees join eight funded last year to create a cohort of 15 that spans from Presque Isle to Portland Maine. The mission of each of the 15 grantee organizations addresses the needs of communities in Maine facing disproportionate barriers to health, based on any number of factors including race and ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability status, or homelessness. All have leadership by and involvement from the communities they serve.
The program provides unrestricted funds to support organizational initiatives including mission development, research, marketing, or board and staff development, as examples.
MeHAF’s Health Equity Capacity Building program is one of several initiatives that the foundation has taken on since identifying health equity as a key issue that must be addressed so that every person and every community in Maine is healthy and well.
Contact: Jeb Murphy
Phone: 207.620.8266
Email: jmurphy@mehaf.org
Paso del Norte Health Foundation
(El Paso, TX)
The Paso del Norte Health Foundation recently awarded 12 grants totaling more than $1.9 million under the Healthy Eating and Active Living Priority Area – HEAL Initiative. The purpose of the HEAL initiative is to make healthy eating and active living the easy choice for youth and their families.
Funded organizations are:
- Arbol de Vida—to provide nutritious meals and physical activities to children in Rancho Anapra and Loma de Poleo in Ciudad Juárez, México. ($139,964)
- Border Partners—to establish home and school gardens and greenhouses, provide promotora-led nutrition, exercise, and gardening science classes to students, provide nutritious lunches to schools, teach exercise classes to children and adults, and maintain facilities and sports leagues for physical activity in Palomas, México. ($98,120)
- Ciudadanos Comprometidos con la Paz, A.C.—to provide healthy meals and offer physical activities to children, and teach portion control and preparation of healthy foods for their families across eight schools in Ciudad Juárez, México. ($282,343)
- El Paso Diabetes Association, Inc.—to offer diabetes education services, coordinate a diabetes educator network and build the service capacity of the El Paso Diabetes Association in El Paso, Texas. ($183,559)
- Kelly Memorial Food Pantry—to assist low-income, food insecure adults in achieving goals towards a more independent and food secure life in El Paso, Texas. ($123,537)
- La Semilla Food Center—to implement a teacher-training model to provide school garden and nutrition education programming, sustained support and capacity building to schools, and training workshops for community organizations seeking to implement community gardens in Doña Ana County, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. ($338,899)
- New Mexico State University Foundation, Inc.—to provide tools and support to increase healthy menu options and standardize appropriate portion sizes in restaurants for Otero County, New Mexico. ($46,992)
- Organizacion Popular Independiente, A.C.—to train child care providers in nutrition and physical education, implement program for children under age seven in Ciudad Juárez, México. ($43,241)
- Paso del Norte Children’s Development Center—to maintain a clinic and serve 180 children with feeding difficulties and educate 200 parents and providers about feeding difficulties in children in El Paso, Texas. ($455,127)
- Texas A&M University—to provide promotora-led direct service healthy eating classes and family physical activity opportunities to intergenerational families living in colonia communities of Far East El Paso County and Hudspeth County, Texas. ($181,671)
- Texans Care for Children—to support research and advocacy to improve healthy eating and physical activity in Texas children. ($25,000)
- The University of Texas at El Paso—to complete the community engagement portion of a diabetes assessment report for El Paso, Texas. ($20,127)
Contact: Jana Renner
Phone: 915.218.2616
Email: jrenner@pdnfoundation.org
Potomac Health Foundation
(Woodbridge, VA)
Potomac Health Foundation awarded a total of $3,674,599 in Howard L. Greenhouse Large Grants to address access to health, mental and behavioral health, and capacity building in eastern Prince William County, Lorton, and North Stafford communities in Virginia. Grant amounts ranged from $14,492 to $249,508 and were awarded to 35 organizations through a competitive application process.
Grants are for one year and began on July 1, 2019. Twelve projects are receiving initial grant funding and 22 projects are receiving continuing funding from the foundation. Of the projects receiving initial grant funding, half of the organizations are receiving grants for the first time from Potomac Health Foundation.
New grants include support for outreach and enrollment for the expanded Medicaid program in Virginia. Grants will also support activities to ensure a complete and accurate count in the foundation service area for Census 2020 through outreach and education, with a focus on traditionally undercounted communities. New grants also include programs to address food insecurity and navigating health and social services for those previously involved with criminal justice.
The foundation also awarded continuation grant funds to support programs focused on behavioral health. In addition, it has been convening community partners undertaking these efforts on a quarterly basis. At these meetings, organizations have been working to coordinate and strategize on how to best address behavioral health issues.
A full listing of 2019-2020 Howard L. Greenhouse Large Grant Program recipients and awards is below:
- Action in Community Through Service—to support Prince William Food Rescue. ($120,000)
- Action in Community Through Service—for behavioral health treatment for homeless clients. ($115,460)
- The Arc of Greater Prince William/INSIGHT, Inc.—to support VOSAC III. ($48,375)
- Capital Area Food Bank—to support You Are What You Eat. ($162,797)
- Community Foundation for Northern Virginia—to support Count the Region. ($25,000)
- George Mason University—to integrate services to improve social determinants of health. ($137,700)
- George Mason University “VALÉ”: A Multidisciplinary Program for Childhood Obesity—for treatment among Latino communities. ($127,176)
- Greater Prince William Community Health Center—to support Bridging the Behavioral Health Gap – GPWCHC/GMU Preceptorship Pipeline. ($195,000)
- Greater Prince William Community Health Center—to increase medical access. ($60,000)
- Greater Washington Community Foundation-Regional Primary Care Coalition—to support the Regional Primary Care Coalition. ($25,000)
- The House, Inc. Student Leadership Center, Inc.—to support The Office on Youth Mental Health and Wellness. ($202,000)
- Inova Health Care Services—to expand behavioral health service capacity for those living with HIV/AIDS in Prince William County. ($145,417)
- Lloyd F. Moss Free Clinic Community Bridge—to address the social determinants of health. ($40,000)
- National Coalition of 100 Black Women—to support Responding and Protecting (RAP) Middle School Students, Parents, Adolescents, and Adults. ($144,000)
- National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) and CASA—to support Building Power Through Health. ($49,508)
- Northern Virginia Family Service—to support mental health for families with children. ($128,955)
- Nueva Vida—to increase cancer prevention and improving continuity of care to underserved Latinas in PWC. ($104,329)
- Pathway Homes—for permanent supportive housing for individuals with serious mental illnesses. ($175,000)
- Postpartum Support Virginia—to provide support for women experiencing postpartum depression: Woodbridge Maternal Mental Health Coalition. ($53,687)
- Prince William County Public Schools—to support Examining Our Dimensions of Culture to Cultivate Culturally Responsive Learning Environments. ($41,187)
- Prince William Drop-In Center—for outreach and education. ($51,500)
- Project Mend-A-House—to support Building for the Future. ($60,000)
- SCAN of Northern Virginia—to build resilient youth and families in Prince William County, Virginia. ($122,355)
- Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center—for an in-person interpreter. ($201,300)
- Stafford Schools Head Start—to support Stafford Children’s Insurance Outreach Program. ($14,492)
- The Virginia Civic Engagement Table Virginia Counts Coalition—to support complete count committees. ($25,000)
- Virginia Community Food Connections—to improve SNAP Access to Affordable Fresh Food for Community Health. ($58,505)
- Virginia Foundation for Community College Education—to support the Potomac Health Foundation Fellows Program. ($125,000)
- Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy—to support Health Care Hope: Expanding Medicaid through Congregational Outreach. ($60,000)
- Virginia Poverty Law Center—to support Enroll Virginia – Potomac. ($198,806)
- Voices for Virginia’s Children—to provide equitable access to trauma-informed children’s mental health services. ($60,000)
- Workhouse Arts Foundation, Inc.—to support the Workhouse Military in the Arts Initiative. ($77,050)
- Young Invincibles—to support the Healthy Young America-Northern Virginia Campaign. ($125,000)
- Youth for Tomorrow—to support YFT Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for the Underserved. ($195,000)
Contact: Kukua Osei-Gyamfi
Phone: 703.523.0621
Email: info@potomachealthfoundation.org