The Health Foundation for Western & Central New York has selected seven nonprofit organizations to receive grant awards for Univera Healthcare’s 2026 Health Equity Innovation Awards. Each year Univera Healthcare’s Health Equity Innovation Awards program provides funding to community-based organizations that focus on combating racial and ethnic health disparities.
The Health Foundation will support the following programs through individual grant awards totaling $160,000:
Community Wellness Works Giving Inc. – Funding will support the Care Access Mobile Lab Initiative, a maternal health–focused program that delivers mobile phlebotomy services directly to pregnant and postpartum mothers who face transportation, childcare, mobility, or income-related barriers to care. The program will shift essential diagnostic testing from facility-based settings into the home, directly addressing transportation, mobility, childcare, and caregiver burden barriers that disproportionately impact Black and Brown mothers, and individuals managing chronic conditions.
EPIC (Every Person Influences Children) – Funding will support the enhancement of Ready, Set, Parent!, a nationally recognized program that supports new and expectant mothers by providing research-based education on infant brain health, bonding, and social-emotional well-being through workshops and individual support. The program will include safe sleep education, along with materials and equipment to support parents in high-need families.
Every Bottom Covered Inc. – Funding will support From the Womb: Growing Access to Maternal Health. The program will offer six two-hour workshops for expectant parents, while connecting them with health care providers, nutritionists, mental health providers, and other specialists. Families will also receive essential supplies like diapers and hygiene products.
Gerard Place – Funding will support the expansion of the Healthy Mom & Baby Mental Health and Wellness program to enhance services in a highly under-resourced community on the East Side of Buffalo. The program will include ongoing prenatal and postpartum health lessons and group gatherings with an emphasis on maternal wellness, while expanding the successful program to a second site in partnership with Evergreen Health at Evergreen’s Bailey-Kensington Center.
Harvest House – Funding will support the Maternal Health: Baby Shower program, based off a four-week pilot centered on needs voiced by clients in their Baby and Children’s Ministry, including mothers living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. The program includes a four-week curriculum featuring health care professionals delivering content tailored to community needs, a peer support network, and essential supplies for mothers, such as hygiene items, clothing, bathtubs, and more.
Neighborhood Health Center of Western New York – Funding will support Reducing Barriers to Early Pregnancy Care. With the opening of a new location on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, Neighborhood Health Center will begin offering no-barrier walk-in pregnancy tests and connect patients to early pregnancy care. An integrated care team will provide trauma-informed, patient-centered care and connect patients to OB-GYN providers.
UBMD Primary Care – Funding will support the implementation of point-of-care lead testing in four primary care clinics. To remove barriers that prevent timely testing, such as lab access and transportation, point-of-care lead screening devices and test kits will be provided for each site. Staff will also be trained. The goal is earlier detection of dangerous lead levels and quicker abatement.
“This year’s award recipients are leaders in advancing health equity and addressing disparities, and we are thrilled to see their continued commitment,” said Nora Suric, PhD, President of the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York. “We look forward to seeing how these efforts improve the lives of people across western New York.
The connection between Univera Healthcare and the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York can be traced back more than two decades. When the Health Foundation was established as the Community Health Foundation of Western & Central New York in 2002, it was endowed with assets from Univera Healthcare that would eventually total over $100 million.
