Imagine Nonviolence: Expand the Reach

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – Imagine Nonviolence: Expand the Reach

The Health Foundation for Western & Central New York invites proposals for Imagine Nonviolence: Expand the Reach, a new initiative to support new, innovative, and collaborative programs working to reduce the risk of firearm injury and death. This is an opportunity for organizations that serve pregnant and birthing people, young children, and older adults and their caregivers to receive support for efforts to reduce firearm violence and increase community safety.

Gun violence and injuries are a public health crisis. Firearm injury happens in many forms: self-harm, intimate partner violence, unintentional injury, community violence, among others. Pregnant and birthing people, young children, older adults, and their caregivers are often left out of the intervention strategies when it comes to firearm injury prevention. But evidence suggests this needs to change. For example,

• About one third of American children live in a home with firearms and of those households 43% contain at least one unlocked firearm.
• Pregnant women aged 15 through 46 years are more than twice as likely as their non-pregnant counterparts to die from a firearm related injury.
• 46% of U.S. adults over age 50 say they live in a household with a gun.

By building community awareness, providing resources, and increasing firearm safety measures to protect vulnerable individuals, particularly young children, and older adults with cognitive and/or physical impairments or those at risk of violence, we aim to create safer communities.

Deadline for Submission:
Monday, July 22, 2024
Read the FAQ here.

 Applications must be completed and submitted online at:

https://hfwcny.fluxx.io

If you are new to our Fluxx application system, you will be prompted to create log-in information in order to apply.

Please direct all questions to rfp@hfwcny.org.

About the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York

The Health Foundation for Western & Central New York began in 2002 with a mission to improve the health and health care of the people and communities of western and central New York. Based in Buffalo, NY, with a second office in Syracuse, NY, the Foundation serves the following 16 counties:

Western New York: Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, Wyoming

Central New York: Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Tompkins

The Health Foundation’s vision is a healthy central and western New York where racial and socioeconomic equity are prioritized so all people can reach their full potential and achieve equitable health outcomes.

To achieve outcomes that last, we work together with community partners to develop, implement, and evaluate sustainable programs that make a positive difference in the lives of children up to age five and older adults.

Overview of RFP Opportunity
View and download this RFP as a printable PDF here.

Imagine Nonviolence: Expand the Reach will provide grants of up to $15,000 to organizations in western and central New York. Types of initiatives the Foundation is interested in supporting include those that will:

• Expand violence prevention work to include a focus on pregnant and birthing people, children under age five, older adults, and their caregivers,
• Train clinicians, doulas, community health workers, and other service providers to screen for firearm safety concerns and provide resources to increase safety for their clients/patients,
• Educate community members about the dangers of unsecured firearms in the home and provide resources to increase safety,
• Address firearm injury prevention for older adults with cognitive and/or physical impairments and their caregivers, and
• Address the safe transfer of firearms due to physical and/or cognitive decline or after death.

To encourage innovative thinking and provide national context for this work, a list of helpful resources and promising programs is included at the end of this document.

Eligibility and Funding

Imagine Nonviolence: Expand the Reach is intended to provide twelve months of funding to support small-scale stand-alone or pilot initiatives. Please see the timeline in this document for more details.

To apply for funding applicants must:

• operate within one or more of the 16 counties the Health Foundation serves (see below)
• be a non-profit with 501(c)3 status or affiliated with one who can receive and manage grant funds on their behalf, and
• work with pregnant and birthing people, young children, or older adults and their caregivers, or partner with organizations that serve these populations.

Funds may not be used to support mergers and acquisitions, building or capital projects, drug development, or direct grants to individuals.

Foundation staff may request site visits with select applicants after receiving their proposal. 

What Awardees Can Expect

The Health Foundation looks to learn alongside community partners to identify innovative ways to reduce firearm injuries and exposure to gun violence among pregnant and birthing people, children under age five, older adults, and their caregivers. We will share what we learn with providers, funders, and community members and contribute to changing the narrative around firearm violence.

Successful applicants are expected to take part in a virtual kickoff event in October 2024.  To build community momentum and promote collaborative growth, all awardees will be asked to take part in a learning community facilitated by the Foundation. Learning community activities, developed based on awardee feedback, will allow organizations to connect with and learn from each other as these initiatives are developed and implemented. All grantees will be asked to provide periodic grant reports and provide performance measures as appropriate.

Initiative Timeline

How to Apply

Interested organizations are invited to complete and submit the full application through Fluxx (https://hfwcny.fluxx.io) no later than Monday, July 22, 2024. Applicants who do not already have an account in Fluxx can establish one.

In addition to providing a budget for your proposed initiative, applicants for Imagine Nonviolence: Expand the Reach are required to respond to the following questions in the online application:

• Organization Name, Address, Phone, Website
• Primary Contact Name, Phone, Email
• Please describe the new initiative or enhancement for which you are requesting funding. Include an outline of the proposed activities and a brief timeline.
• WNY and/or CNY county(s) served.
• Amount of funding you are requesting. ($15,000 maximum)
• What population will you reach through your initiative? Pregnant and birthing people; children up to age 5; older adults and/or their caregivers
• Will this grant enhance an existing or introduce a new initiative?
• If an existing initiative, please provide a brief background of the initiative and how this funding will enhance it.
• What are the needs/gaps you are trying to address with the proposed initiative or enhancement?
• Describe the expected impact of your initiative.
• What are the goals of the initiative?
• How will participants benefit from this initiative?
• Tell us about the organization(s) that will be involved with this work. Please include the mission of the organization(s) and a brief description of services offered and population(s) served.
• If multiple organizations will be involved in the initiative, indicate which organization will be the grantee. Note: The grantee must be a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.  Applicants that do not meet this requirement may choose to partner with a 501(c)3 that can serve as the fiscal agent.
• If you do not currently serve pregnant and birthing people, young children, older adults, and their caregivers, how do you plan to reach those communities?
• If you do not currently have experience or expertise in firearm safety, how do you plan to gain the required knowledge?
• Please list additional partner(s), if any, you plan to engage for this grant. Describe how the partner(s) will enhance and support the work. If you do not know specific names of partner(s), please describe the kinds of partners you plan to engage.
• How will you engage and reach community members, particularly in marginalized communities, and how will you encourage input and feedback from them?
• Please complete the budget template in Fluxx to show how requested funds will be used.

Helpful Resources and Promising Programs

• Alzheimer’s Association San Diego– https://www.alzsd.org/new-gun-safety-program/
  • The Alzheimer’s Association of San Diego provides free gun locks to families impacted by dementia and have firearms in the home to prevent accident and injury.
• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) – Gun Safety Campaign Toolkit – https://www.aap.org/en/news-room/campaigns-and-toolkits/gun-safety/
  • Recognizing gun safety as a public health issue, the AAP toolkit offers common-sense solutions that have been proven to reduce preventable injuries and deaths of children.
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) – Gun Violence and Safety – https://www.acog.org/clinical-information/policy-and-position-statements/statements-of-policy/2019/gun-violence-and-safety
  • ACOG supports an evidence-based, public health approach to gun violence that emphasizes prevention, education, and safety.
• Be Smart for Kids – Secure Gun Storage Saves Kids’ Lives – https://besmartforkids.org/
  • Be SMART is a framework that parents, caretakers, and community leaders can follow to help keep their communities safe.
  • BulletPoints Project – https://www.bulletpointsproject.org/
    • BulletPoints provides clinical tools for firearm injury prevention created with input from an interdisciplinary group of clinicians, gun owners, public health researchers, and others.
• “Firearm Injuries During Pregnancy in the USA” – Luster, et al. (2023) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10366773/
  • Researchers propose “proper firearm storage, health care providers counseling pregnant women regarding the potential for serious injury due to firearms, improving the infrastructure of communities, and community-based programs” as promising firearm injury prevention strategies for pregnant women.
• Firearm Life Plan – https://firearmlifeplan.org/about/
  • The Firearm Life Plan resources help people think about important questions related to their firearms and protect their families from making difficult decisions without guidance. A Firearm Life Plan is a voluntary, personal plan made between a firearm owner and those they trust.
• Gun Safety Alliance – “Responsibility as Common Ground” Report https://alteragents.com/new-research-reframing-gun-safety-in-america/
  • The report shows there is significant common ground between gun owners and non-owners and seeks to align our conversations, promote common purpose, and inspire effective action to reduce gun violence in the United States.