Health Program
Caring Communities
Caring Communities supports safety-net institutions and those providing prevention, primary, acute, and chronic care to underserved populations in rural and urban settings. Funding is awarded through the following three grant opportunities:
Health Clinic Opportunity Fund
Safety-net Enhancement Initiative
Safety-net Facility Improvement
Health Clinic Opportunity Fund
Launched in July 2009, this is a two-year, national grant program developed in direct response to the rapid increase in the number of people losing their jobs and health insurance as a result of the economic crisis. Grants ranging from $75,000 to $150,000 per year for a maximum of two years will be provided to build the operational capacity of charitable health clinics, public-health clinics, and those designated as federally qualified health center look-alikes. Please note: Federally qualified health centers are not eligible to apply.
We will fund up to 20 projects per year. Grant awards may be used to support staffing, recruitment and retention of health-care service providers; consulting services such as training, management, business processing and fundraising; strategic planning, community health assessments, outreach and marketing; business and/or operational assessments and program evaluation; and basic operational expenses, such as supplies, materials and equipment.
Priority will be given to projects that leverage existing resources, create more effective operating systems, improve efficiencies, and expand and maintain access to health services for vulnerable populations.
There will be two rounds of funding, each supporting up to 10 grantees during each grant period. Letters of inquiry submitted online constitute the application process.
|
Round 1: |
Letters of inquiry are due September 4, 2009 |
|
Round 2: |
Letters of inquiry are due March 1, 2010 |
Please visit the Application Process page located in the purple bar at the top of this page for complete information, including letter of inquiry requirements, and to apply online.
Safety-net Enhancement Initiative
This initiative is designed to reduce disparities and improve the health outcomes of low-income children and adults by enhancing collaboration among the agencies and institutions providing health and social supports in their communities. This is a four-year initiative consisting of two parts: (1) a program planning and design phase and (2) a demonstration phase.
|
October 27 |
 |
A maximum of 15 grants will be awarded of up to $75,000 each for the first phase of the initiative, the nine-month program planning and design phase. Seven to 10 of the planning grant recipients will then be competitively selected to receive a second grant of up to $750,000 each for a three-year period. This will fund the demonstration of their proposed projects. At the conclusion of the three-year period, a comprehensive evaluation of the new models and approaches demonstrated by the projects will be conducted and the results will be made public. It is hoped that these new models will help to influence the future direction of health-care delivery in low-income and underserved areas.
Competitive applicants will propose projects that foster strategic partnerships between community-health centers and one or more anchor institutions, such as a public health system, public health department or school system – all in order to positively affect population health in their communities. We define community-health centers as organizations that provide primary-care services to low-income patients, including those designated federally qualified health centers, health center look-alikes, public health clinics, school-based health centers, nurse-managed clinics, and voluntary free clinics, among others.
Building more effective medical models – those that increase access and health-care delivery – while important, are no longer enough. We believe many community-health conditions are socially determined and must be addressed if we are to effectively construct a true and lasting health-care safety net. It is widely acknowledged, for example, that low-income children and adults experience a disproportionate incidence of preventable diseases. For this reason, competitive applicants will propose not only approaches that strengthen connections between existing providers but also forge new partnerships that will enable them to prevent disease by responding to the precipitating social determinants that affect the health status of vulnerable populations.
Unlike other Health Team grant opportunities, we are asking Safety-net Enhancement Initiative applicants to respond to our request for full proposals rather than submit a letter of inquiry, as is our standard practice.
For complete information regarding the request-for-proposal process and to apply online, visit the Application Process page located in the purple bar at the top of this page.
The deadline for applying for phase one – a program planning and design grant – is November 16, 2009. Grant award announcements will be made in January 2010.
Safety-net Facility Improvements
This grant opportunity extends Kresge’s long history of awarding challenge grants to organizations conducting capital campaigns for new building construction and facility renovation. In addition to facilities-capital challenge grants, we are increasing our investment in community-based health centers through a variety of funding methods, including program-related investments or below market rate loans.
Clinics that are expanding and/or improving their physical infrastructure in order to increase accessibility, availability, and the quality of services provided to disadvantaged, uninsured and under-insured populations are typically competitive applicants. Anchor organizations that assume a leadership role in facilitating meaningful and relevant community change by strengthening the safety-net or improving their ability to respond to priority community health issues are encouraged to apply. Consideration also is given to projects that are environmentally sustainable and adopt the Green Guide for Health Care.
Letters of inquiry are accepted on an ongoing basis.
To apply for facilities capital, visit the challenge grant page for complete information, including letter of inquiry requirements, and to apply online.
To apply for funding other than a challenge grant, visit the Application Process page located in the purple bar at the top of this page for complete information, including letter of inquiry requirements, and to apply online.
If you have questions, e-mail our Grants Inquiry Coordinator or call 248-643-9630.