Grant Partners

Funding to support an online platform that allows staff to complete trainings and certifications to ensure the programs are run safely and in the best interests of residents.

Health Care for All (HCFA) advocates for consumers on health care access, quality, and cost. HCFA's goals, strategies, and tactics are shaped by thousands of consumer experiences captured by the HelpLine, outreach, and ongoing organizing efforts. HCFA will focus on three key areas: affordability, health equity, and integration. HCFA's affordability agenda includes a three-pronged approach – addressing pharmaceutical costs, hospital costs, and insurer costs.  Related to health equity, HCFA will advocate to require MassHealth to extend coverage to 12 months postpartum, ensuring continuous coverage during a critical time, and advocate to improve equitable access to health coverage for children with disabilities by expanding CommonHealth coverage to all qualifying children and young adults with disabilities, regardless of their immigration status. Additionally, HCFA will work to better integrate care so that health-related social needs, primary care, behavioral health, oral health, pediatric care, and other services are provided and addressed in a more coordinated and efficient system for consumers. 

The Mayor’s Health Line (MHL) provides health insurance outreach and enrollment services, communicating with residents in the languages they prefer and where they live and feel safe. The MHL focuses on Boston neighborhoods that experience some of the highest rates of uninsurance, including Mattapan, Dorchester, and East Boston. During the grant year MHL will launch a “Young Men’s campaign” with community partners to help increase outreach and education amongst young men of color about health insurance coverage. In addition, MHL will utilize ethnic media, host community events, and work with local businesses to promote outreach and enrollment.

FamilyAid will pilot a Behavioral Health Navigator program focusing on cutting through the red tape and gaining access to behavioral health services for FamilyAid children. This pilot will occur through a partnership with Boston Children's Hospital to expand access to behavioral health services to 400 children in the coming year. It will hire a Behavioral Health Navigator to build on established relationships and forge new collaborations with counseling services, school-based behavioral health staff, community health centers, and hospitals.

Funding to purchase a food labeling system and equipment that increase efficiency, and helps provide clients with more information about ingredients, allergens, and safe food handling.

Funding to purchase two defibrillators for Greater Worcester Housing Connection homeless shelters.

Funding to build a sensory room and expand the Sherill House Expressive Therapy program to meet the complex healthcare needs of residents and patients, especially those with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

This grant funded outreach to individuals who have experienced gaps in insurance coverage due to barriers identified through our policy and research work.  This outreach supported the inclusion of a qualitative component to a policy and research project, elevating the lived experience of members of our community in our work.

The Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) promotes a healthy Massachusetts through advocacy, community organizing, and coalition building. MPHA works with community groups, state policy organizations, health care institutions, state agencies, and others to identify community health challenges, design policy solutions, and advocate for action.  It will advocate to improve and invest in our local public health system so that local public health departments can meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.   It will organize to win inclusion of Alliance for Community Health Integration recommendations in the next 1115 waiver and advance a suite of housing and transportation policy reforms, including protections for renters and working-class homeowners, investments in public transit, and stronger accountability for air quality improvements. 

Asian Women for Health (AWFH) is a peer-led, community-based network dedicated to advancing Asian women’s health and wellbeing through education, advocacy, and support. Asian Women for Health will work to strengthen its internal capacity to promote and sustain systematic solutions towards accessible, affordable, and equitable healthcare practice. The organization will work to implement the new Data Equity law by organizing community events and working with stakeholders. In addition, AWFH will advocate for language access and inclusion policies that address language barriers for residents with limited English proficiency from accessing state services, programs and information.   

Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires will meet with individuals and families to help determine their health needs and connect them with resources and services that meet those needs. Its population of focus will be immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in communities across the Commonwealth. It will also coordinate closely with other community-based organizations and local and state agencies to ensure that its services are additive and not duplicative. 

This project has been developed by two Associate professors at UMASS Amherst and will be implemented in collaboration with the Ascentria Care Alliance, based in West Springfield.

This project will implement an evidence-based intervention to reduce stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms and improve coping skills, self-efficacy, social support, and family well-being among Ukrainian and Afghan refugees resettled in Hampden County. Reducing their mental health burden by promoting community strengths and utilizing culturally tailored support will help these refugees to adjust to their new environment and actively engage in the community and employment.

Greater Lawrence Action Council (GLCAC) is a social service agency rooted in the community. GLCAC will concentrate its efforts in Lawrence, and expand services to Lowell and Haverhill, which are all areas with high uninsurance. During the grant period, they will conduct community-based outreach and enrollment using data to help focus and reach specific communities with Community Action, Inc. and Community Teamwork, Inc. to reach clients using print and digital media. They will focus on communities with the most barriers to accessing and maintaining health coverage by using data and mapping to guide their outreach and enrollment efforts.

Stavros' mission is to help persons with disabilities and Deaf people develop the tools and skills they need to take charge of their own lives. They accomplish this through programs and services designed to meet the needs of persons of any age or disability as they work to achieve the life goals that are important to them. Stavros provides services to persons that identify as having a disability and who live in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties of western Massachusetts. Stavros will work with the BCBSMA Foundation and its technical assistance partners to support community members in addressing mild mental health distress and practical problems of daily living. Stavros will implement the PM+ model to support people with disabilities who live in western Massachusetts and have difficulty getting services due to limited access to the internet and transportation.

Funding requested to pilot a program to recruit and train more people of color to be lactation specialists in Western MA.