Between June and December 2020, the Health Foundation awarded new grants totaling more than $2.8 million to support programs that improve the health of people in western and central New York. These grants include:
Co-Creating Well-Being Implementation Grants ($1.7M Total)
The Health Foundation awarded 13 grants as part of Phase III of Co-Creating Well-Being (CCWB) to support projects led by community-based organizations that are developing and testing new approaches to trauma-informed care for children. Co-Creating Well-Being uses a human-centered design approach that incorporates the needs and feedback of parents, children and care providers to develop novel solutions to trauma-informed care issues. Read more about these grants on our website here.
Establishing DEI Advancement Fund Workgroup ($50,000)
Many community organizations are recognizing the need to deepen their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). As a first step in support of these efforts, the Health Foundation has made an initial investment to establish a workgroup to co-design the criteria and parameters of a future fund that will support DEI advancement in grantee organizations. The investment includes grants of $15,000 each to Population Health Collaborative and CCNY to support the development of DEI initiatives.
Health Leadership Fellows CALL to Action Grants
The Health Leadership Fellows CALL to Action program provides an opportunity for Health Leadership Fellows to work on collaborative projects that address persistent barriers to better health outcomes. The following projects were funded recently as part of this program.
Increasing Health Literacy ($113,000)
Greater attention has been given to the role health providers play in advancing health literacy. Using a ‘train the trainer model,’ these funds will help participating organizations identify and support champions to work within their organizations and their surrounding communities to advance practices that promote health literacy. Ten organizations will participate in the 18-month long pilot.
Project SECURE ($197,000)
Comprised of a dozen community-based organizations and partners, Project SECURE aims to address caregiver burden and reduce caregiver burnout by enhancing the role of in-home providers such as home care aides. This allows these care providers to attend to a hierarchy of family caregiver needs that include, but go well beyond, respite care. The project also aims to ensure enhanced in-home providers receive a fair wage and have career opportunities in an industry where more than half the workforce are people of color. Read more about Project SECURE and other current caregiving projects here.
Safe Sleep ($200,000)
Led by Best Self Behavioral Health as the service provider, the focus of the project will be enhancing provider coordination and improving the effectiveness of safe sleep training and messaging. The project includes convening a cross-sector Safe Sleep Advisory Group, and the creation of a Safe Sleep Community Coordinator position that will work across Erie County. The grantee will also work directly with mothers and other caregivers to develop messages and modes of delivering them that more effectively reach those who are caring for infants, especially from population groups that are most likely to experience an infant fatality.
Transportation and Support ($200,000)
Transportation access is a defining social determinant of health, and the goal of this project is to make it affordable and accessible to everyone in need. This project aims to expand and improve the reach of the volunteer-based model used by Hearts & Hands into to the city of Buffalo, Lancaster, Cheektowaga, and East Aurora over the next two years. This program also includes efforts to strengthen their capacity to deliver services to a diverse population.
WBFO Older Adults News Desk ($60,000)
The two-year continuation of this project enables WBFO to provide news reports on major issues and challenges affecting older adults. A dedicated Older Adults News Desk beat reporter provides listeners with in-depth feature and spot news reporting to ensure issues related to older adults receive the attention and awareness they deserve.
WNY and CNY Grantee Staff Support Funds ($24,000)
Leadership and staff at nonprofit organizations are facing high levels of stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to address these challenges, the Health Foundation awarded a total of $24,000 to select grantees in western and central New York to support the mental health and overall well-being of staff at these organizations. Grantees determined how these funds were used to support their team, such as employee recognition programs or mental and emotional health support services.
Universal Health Care Advocacy ($180,000)
The Health Foundation has made an ongoing commitment to using our platform to advocate for high-quality, affordable, universal health coverage. These efforts will continue in a number of ways, including by helping to build advocacy leaders in the community, leading or supporting conversations around these issues with the public and elected officials, and collaborating on programs to overcome barriers of the current health care system. This funding includes a $60,000 grant for Physicians for a National Health Program to continue their work in developing health care advocate training programs, as well as $75,000 to Statewide Senior Action to support a CNY Health Advocacy and Action campaign.
Grants Under $10,000
The following projects and organizations received grant funding for $10,000 and under during this period.
Aging in Place with AI
Baby Café
Buffalo Center for Health Equity
Collaboration Support for Live Well WNY
Collaborative Intersectional Collective Alliance for Better Senior Care
Community at Sunset Wood
Early Childhood Alliance Technology Pack
Feed Buffalo – Americorps LISC
GNA Cognitive Screening Tool
Grantmakers in Aging – Fund the Future
Human Services Leadership Council
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society – Transportation Assistance
Movers and Makers – Art at Home
Planning Support for Community Service Organizations
South Buffalo Community Association (via Moving Forward Together initiative)
Veterans One-Stop Center of WNY, Inc. (via Moving Forward Together initiative)
