Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation (Boston, MA)

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation awarded more than $850,000 in grants through a new program, Advancing Community-Driven Mental Health, to improve access to mental health services for adults experiencing mild to moderate distress and practical problems of daily living.

With its new, three-year grant program, the foundation is taking an innovative approach to challenges in mental health care by leveraging an intervention developed by the World Health Organization. The WHO model, Problem Management Plus (PM+), helps adults learn how to manage adversity and mental health stressors in their day-to-day lives and provides community-based referrals to those at risk of developing severe mental health challenges.  The low-intensity psychological intervention also trains the non-clinical workforce to support people in mild to moderate mental health distress.

The program supports five nonprofit organizations that are focused on housing, senior services, support for people with disabilities, and other non-clinical initiatives that provide direct social or community services to individuals and families. The following organizations have received $100,000 each through the first year of funding:

  • Boston Senior Home Care—to improve access to community-based mental health services through its supportive housing program in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
  • Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee—to support underserved individuals including low-wage earners, those with limited English-language proficiency, people with disabilities, seniors, and residents of subsidized housing.
  • Quincy Asian Resources Inc.—to train its family and community services coordinators to support the mental health challenges of clients who have an immigrant background, typically speak Chinese or Vietnamese, and have experienced acculturation stress.
  • Stavros Center for Independent Living—to implement the PM+ model to support people living with disabilities in western Massachusetts who have difficulty getting mental health services due to limited access to the internet and transportation.
  • The Community Builders Inc.—to focus on individuals with low incomes and often in need of mental health care who live in family-designated affordable housing in Boston, Mashpee, and Worcester, Massachusetts.

In addition, the foundation is providing $355,779 in grant funding to its two technical assistance partners, The Family Van and Partners In Health, which support the development and implementation of the grant program. They are community-centered organizations with knowledge and experience with the PM+ model both locally and internationally.

Contact: Greg Turner at 617.243.9950 or greg@ballcg.com.

California Wellness Foundation (Los Angeles, CA)

The California Wellness Foundation announced $20.5 million in grants bringing the total 2022 distribution to $62 million. It awarded 68 grants across its four Advancing Wellness portfolios, focusing on a wide range of core strategies including power building in BIPOC, immigrant, and low-income communities, public policy advocacy that prioritizes the experiences and needs of underserved and marginalized Californians, and leadership and sustainability of BIPOC-led and -serving reproductive justice organizations.

The foundation made seven grants totaling $1 million in core operating support to fund community-based organizations that champion reproductive justice by providing care in underserved areas and by participating in public policy at all levels.

  • ACCESS Reproductive Justice—to engage in policy advocacy efforts to center the needs of low-income people of color in health care policy decisions.
  • ACT for Women and Girls—to build the political power of LGBTQ+ youth in the Central Valley and ensure that they are included in the reproductive justice movement.
  • Black Women for Wellness—will engage Black women in statewide and local policy advocacy, organizing, and outreach, while offering education around maternal, infant, and sexual health and other intersectional issues that impact Black birthing people.
  • California Latinas for Reproductive Justice—will build Latinas’ political power and cultivate their leadership through policy advocacy, community education, and community-informed research.
  • Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Planned Parenthood Shasta Diablo, and Women’s Health Specialists – Chico—to provide quality reproductive health and family planning care to low-income people living in rural and conservative regions of the state. In particular, they will focus on removing barriers to access for immigrants, young people, foster youth, people with disabilities, and unhoused people.

The foundation also awarded three core operating support grants totaling $2 million to movement building and civic engagement 501(c)(4) nonprofits focused on addressing the social determinants of health in California. It is the first private foundation in the state to provide core operating support to 501(c)(4) organizations. 501(c)(4) nonprofits have more leeway when it comes to political activism and engaging in policy advocacy. They have power to hold elected officials accountable in their legislative roles and at the ballot box. Unfortunately, they have a harder time getting funding due to more onerous fundraising and grantmaking rules.

  • Asian Pacific Environmental Network Action—to mobilize 30,000 Asian immigrant and refugee voters to help shape public policy and win social, environmental, and economic justice for all.
  • California Calls Action Fund—to expand the electorate to include more people of color and implement policy goals that fund public services, increase government effectiveness, create more equitable tax systems, and encourage economic growth.
  • PowerCA Action—to build the leadership and political power of young people of color to pass progressive legislation, elect candidates, and hold them accountable to the communities that elected them.

To see the complete list of new grants, click here.

Contact: info@calwellness.org.

Con Alma Health Foundation (Santa Fe, NM)

Con Alma Health Foundation awarded $530,000 to 26 nonprofits working to improve health and uplift underserved populations across New Mexico. Some grants focus on statewide initiatives, while others serve people living in 22 counties, 14 pueblos, and the Navajo Nation.

The grants fund a range of services that include supporting homeless youth, Indigenous youth, grandparents raising grandchildren, seniors and disabled, behavioral health services, people experiencing domestic violence, individuals who identify as LGBTQ+, nutrition training for home health care workers, and racial equity in the child welfare system.

  • Breath of My Heart Birthplace—to support a comprehensive home birth and midwifery practice in Española. ($25,000)
  • Carrie Tingley Hospital Foundation—to help provide high-quality patient care and bridge gaps for families and children/young people living with permanent disabilities. ($10,000)
  • Chaves County Casa Program—to support vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth by creating a safety net of support, resources, and workforce skills with a focus on the needs of rural areas. ($25,000)
  • Deming Silver Linings—to support staffing who assist homeless clients in developing life skills and navigating social and mental health services in Luna County, New Mexico with the goal of reducing homelessness. ($25,000)
  • Health Equity Alliance for LGBTQ New Mexicans—to secure diverse funding streams for sustainable program growth and increase advocacy on health policies that affect the health of LGBTQ+ people across racial/ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic status in both urban and rural communities. ($20,000)
  • Inside Out—for strategic planning, website updates, and staff IT training. ($20,000)
  • Las Cumbres Community Services—to support immigrant and refugee families with equitable access to resources and community integration. ($20,000)
  • Los Alamos Juvenile Justice Advisory Board—to offer Los Alamos Public School and Los Alamos Juvenile Justice Advisory Board staff more frequent, in-house training in youth mental health first aid. ($10,000)
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation—for an advisory council to provide respite opportunities and counseling services to extended family members raising children in Northern New Mexico. ($20,000)
  • Mesa to Mesa—to complete home repair projects for low-income homeowners in Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, and Northern Santa Fe counties in New Mexico. ($20,000)
  • NACA Inspired Schools Network—to transform education systems to equitably serve the needs of Indigenous students. ($25,000)
  • National Latino Behavioral Health Association—to support a full-time prevention specialist who will facilitate and implement Familia Adelante, an evidence-based prevention program, and mentor a youth advisory council of adolescents from Northern Santa Fe and Southern Rio Arriba counties in New Mexico. ($20,000)
  • New Mexico Alliance for School-Based Health Care—to increase staffing capacity in support of an expansion of school-based health centers in New Mexico, and to provide guidance to ensure state funds serve children with the greatest unmet needs. ($25,000)
  • New Mexico Caregivers Coalition—to lift professional caregivers out of poverty and better serve persons who are elderly and those with disabilities by focusing on workforce development and economic opportunities for all caregivers. ($25,000)
  • New Mexico Kids Matter Inc.—to develop and deliver racial equity workshops to members of the child welfare system community in New Mexico. ($25,000)
  • New Mexico Ramp Project—to provide free wheelchair ramps to individuals who need a ramp by organizing and training a ramp-building team to service the long-term needs of Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, and Northern Santa Fe counties in New Mexico. ($10,000)
  • Notah Begay III (NB3) Foundation—to support a Native youth health program focused on the reduction of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption through advocacy, policy, systems change, and direct community-based initiatives throughout three pueblos in Central New Mexico as well as urban Indigenous communities in the Albuquerque, New Mexico metro area. ($20,000)
  • One Generation—to promote community engagement around Indigenous food sovereignty and food access across central New Mexico pueblos and Navajo Nation chapters with the goal to create a business plan for a Sandoval County, New Mexico-based Indigenous food hub. ($20,000)
  • Santa Fe Recovery Center—to develop a child care program for approximately 35 women and children from Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, and Northern Santa Fe counties in New Mexico who are in residential treatment enabling them to fully engage in treatment and recovery. ($20,000)
  • Scott’s House—to support a continuum of care for hospice patients and their families unable to find care within Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, and Northern Santa Fe counties in New Mexico. ($15,000)
  • Self Help—to expand access to critical healthcare resources for individuals and families in Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, and northern Santa Fe counties in New Mexico. ($10,000)
  • The Semilla Project—to engage youth in the outdoors, seeking to eliminate racist constructs in public lands, waters, and wildlife management and conservation. ($25,000)
  • Three Sisters Kitchen—to implement Harvest to Health, a 10-week Spanish-language senior nutrition training program for home health aides which builds capacity in the home health care workforce by ensuring high-quality senior care and good jobs for home health aides. ($25,000)
  • Transgender Resource Center Of New Mexico—to provide transgender education and consultation to health care and behavioral health providers and networks throughout New Mexico. Topics include transgender cultural fluency, transgender 201, health policy consultation, best practices for intake and survey questions, and how to initiate gender-affirming letter writing. ($20,000)
  • Valencia Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence—to ensure the shelter can meet technological demands of the current and future workforce and service climate, with tools and skills that are adaptable, relevant, and responsive. ($25,000)
  • Zuni Youth Enrichment Project—to launch an after-school program and share recent learnings about the pueblo’s perspective on what it means to be well from a Zuni perspective. ($25,000)

To learn more, click here.

Contact: Dennis McCutcheon at 505.438.0776 or dmccutcheon@conalma.org.

Health Foundation for Western & Central New York (Buffalo and Syracuse, NY)

The Health Foundation for Western & Central New York will celebrate 20 years of service to the community with a year-long commemoration of the impact the organization has made in partnership with nonprofit organizations across the region. Commemorative events begin with the launch of a video testimonial featuring current and former grantee partners and trustees, entitled “Well is Being: Celebrating 20 Years on the Path Toward Health Equity,” and will continue through 2023 with highlights from throughout the organization’s history.

The year-long celebration will amplify the stories of the foundation’s grantee partners and how those partnerships have changed the lives of western and central New Yorkers. Commemorative content will also highlight notable moments from the Health Foundation’s history, including its founding as a health conversion foundation in 2002 after the merger of health plans Univera and Excellus; first grants made in 2004; and a new commitment to racial and socioeconomic health equity in 2020.

To learn more, click here.

Contact: Kerry Jones Waring at 716.380.7319 or kjwaring@hfwcny.org.

Point32Health Foundation (Canton, MA)

Point32Health Foundation announced grants to seven food banks in the region. Each will receive $100,000 to increase capacity to respond to the growing community need for emergency food support. These investments support general operations, including staff salaries, the purchase of fresh and nonperishable food, and fuel costs for distribution. Funds also will go to advocacy efforts that promote system and policy changes addressing root causes of hunger and align with the new National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.

Grants go to organizations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island:

  • Connecticut Foodshare
  • Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
  • Good Shepherd Food Bank
  • Greater Boston Food Bank
  • New Hampshire Food Bank
  • Rhode Island Community Food Bank
  • Worcester County Food Bank

Contact: Alrie Daniels at Alrie.Daniels@point32health.org.

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