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First and Second Quarter Grants Summary

June 22, 2020

We are pleased to announce that the RMHF Board of Trustees has approved eighty-five grants totaling $2,931,800 since January.

The RMHF Board and staff would like to take a moment and express gratitude to our many partners who are on the ground working every day to foster health equity in our city and surrounding counties.

Covid-19 Response Grants

In early April we announced that our Trustees approved a first-phase grantmaking response to COVID-19. The response is centered in the Foundation’s commitment to fostering health equity and these grants provide one-time general operating support to organizations providing critical services during this time. The RMHF Trustees recently approved the following thirty-seven COVID-19 response grant applications, totaling $500,800.

Behavioral Health Services

$10,000 each to the organizations noted below for the provision of behavioral health services:

$7,500 each to the organizations noted below for the provision of behavioral health services which includes two safety net providers:

$5,000 each to the organizations noted below for technology purchase to support telehealth:

Support for Non-English Speaking, Refugee, and Immigrant Populations

$10,000 each to the organizations noted below to provide health and human services and/or emergency assistance:

$1,400 to the organization noted below to translate and provide factual, language appropriate COVID-19 safety and response information:

Support for Older Adult Service Providers

$20,000 each to organizations below providing caregiver services (focused on supporting in-home health care)

Technology focused on transitioning to various forms of telehealth for organizations listed below:

Impact Investing

Health Care Safety Net Partners

$10,000 to our nine Health Safety Net Partners:

Collaborative Grantmaking

The Community Foundation for a greater Richmond $50,000 to support the COVID-19 Response Fund.

Robins Foundation $50,000 to support the Family Crisis Fund providing immediate financial relief for families with children.

CultureWorks $22,000 to support the Arts and Culture Relief Fund providing financial assistance to professional artists.

Strategic Grants

In alignment with our new strategic framework and as part of our regular grantmaking for 2020 we are happy to announce the following awards approved in our first an second FY quarters.

Increasing Access to Health Care Through Behavioral Health

The RMHF Trustees recently approved the following Access to Health Care: Behavioral Health grant applications totaling $315,000. These grants are mission-aligned with RMHF and work towards increasing access to quality behavioral health care by reducing behavioral health disparities for socioeconomically disadvantaged, marginalized and/or vulnerable populations including (but not limited to) people of color, children, LGBTQ individuals, older adults and immigrants. Two of organizations funded are led by people of color.

Access to Health Care Through Capacity Building

RMHF Trustees recently approved the following Increasing Access to Health Care Through Capacity Building grant applications totaling $50,000 over one year.

Access to Oral Health Care

RMHF Trustees recently approved the following Access to Oral Health Care grant applications totaling $410,000 over two years. These grants are mission-aligned with RMHF and work towards reducing oral health disparities for socioeconomically disadvantaged, marginalized and/or vulnerable populations including people of color, new immigrants, older adults and people with disabilities.

Increasing Access to Health Care to our Core Safety Net Partners

RMHF Trustees recently approved $715,000 to our nine Safety Net Partners.

Health Equity Action Leadership (HEAL)

The Health Equity Action Leadership (HEAL) Initiative is a reimagination of grassroots action through a neighbor-hood-based leadership development program in communities of color in the Richmond region. The HEAL Initiative will co-design a third Equity + Health Fellowship rooted in RMHF’s commitment to (1) advance health equity through a racial and ethnic lens, and (2) align community engagement and policy and advocacy efforts centered in resident voice with the aim of helping to ensure public dollars and public policies make equity a top priority.

In response to the recommendations of both cohorts of RMHF’s Equity + Health Fellows, the RMHF Trustees recently approved the following HEAL grant applications totaling $320,000 over two years. The COVID-19 crisis and the accompanying social and economic changes that have emerged (and will continue to emerge) stand to significantly influence the direction of RMHF’s Health Equity and Community Building Strategy. Three of the organizations funded are led by persons of color.

Advancing Health Equity Through Arts & Culture (HEArts)

The RMHF Trustees recently approved the following Access to HEArts grant applications totaling $278,000 over two years. HEArts 2020 will build on the success of the previous HEArts cohorts by continuing to fundnonprofit organizations in partnership with equitably compensated artists engaging underserved communities in participatory sessions to identify barriers to health and/or housing equity and foster creative ways to remove the barriers faced. Four of the organizations funded are led by women of color and there are five artists of color.

Health Equity and the Built Environment

The RMHF Trustees recently approved the following Health Equity and the Built Environment grant applications totaling $300,000. Guiding this funding is the recognition that housing stability, economic opportunity, and healthy built environments are key factors in determining health equity for individuals and families. This belief has been informed by internal and external learning opportunities, highlighting the significant relationship between health and housing. One of the organizations funded is led by a person of color.

 

Collaborative Grants

The RMHF Trustees recently approved the following Collaborative Fund grants totaling $43,000.