Initiatives in Education, Economic Development Present Challenges, Yield Big Rewards

The Rapides Foundation is a health care legacy dating back to 1994. The foundation’s grantmaking focus has always addressed traditional health care and health promotion priorities. We have funded medical training and programs that help people get access to medication and launched programs that helped communities fund walking trails and playgrounds. Our Get Healthy Cenla Initiative focuses on getting residents to quit tobacco, exercise more, and make healthy food choices. This type of grantmaking falls under our Healthy People priority area. The foundation has two other priority areas – Education and Healthy Communities – that fall outside the traditional realm of health care grantmaking, yet drive our overall mission of improving the health status of Central Louisiana. These two areas include initiatives in the areas of education and economic and community development.