Grant Partners

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.

Mass Senior Action Council (MSAC) is a member-led organization and is the only organization in Massachusetts that informs, engages, and empowers low-income seniors from diverse communities to have direct input in shaping the Commonwealth's health policy decisions. MSAC will advocate to expand access to affordable healthcare for lower-income Medicare beneficiaries by: raising state income eligibility of the Medicare Savings Programs from 165% to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL); and updating the MassHealth asset limit to exclude life insurance policies. In addition, it will continue to meet with a range of stakeholders to better understand the oversight of Long-Term Care and to identify opportunities for increased protections for residents of nursing facilities. MSAC will also continue to advocate for a fully integrated intake and eligibility process for state health, food, and other means-tested benefits. MSAC is also continuing its efforts to have all 6 Senior Care Options programs include Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other benefit enrollment during their intake and re-certification processes. 

La Colaborativa is a trusted partner to Latinx immigrants in Chelsea and surrounding areas with a mission to empower community members to enhance the social and economic health of the community and its people; and to hold institutional decisionmakers accountable to the community. La Colaborativa will build on its distinct, culturally relevant, community-based approach to promote community health and advocate for systems change. La Colaborativa will continue to expand its health advocacy work to improve health equity and expand coverage and access – specifically for immigrants, regardless of documentation status. 

True Alliance Center 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. 

Resilient Sisterhood Project will create an evidenced-based protocol for health practitioners and community-based advocates to address the broad spectrum of reproductive health needs of formerly incarcerated Black women. This protocol will guide health care practitioners, community organizations, and formerly incarcerated women to ensure that women can access the reproductive medical services they need and mitigate the trauma of prison medical treatment.

Fishing Partnership (FP) reaches important areas that continue to experience high uninsurance rates and a largely independent worker population that often lacks access to critical services.

Using their experience with enrollment and outreach, the FP will launch an outreach campaign in New Bedford, Fall River, Lynn, Quincy, Plymouth, Gloucester, and Cape Cod to reach the fishing community and their families –with a focus on women, people of color, non-English speakers, and individuals with mental health and/or substance use disorders - with materials and sharing information through presentations and events about health coverage.

Quincy Asian Resources, Inc’s (QARI) mission is to foster and improve the social, cultural, economic, and civic lives of immigrants and their families in order to benefit their communities. QARI will provide the Life Balance program (the organization’s PM+ intervention program); increase staff members' knowledge, comfort, and confidence in discussing mental health and delivering Life Balance to members of the community and hold events to educate community members about the availability of the program.

Funding for new computer equipment to expand organizational capacity and infrastructure.

Funding to redesign the organization’s website to better showcase the care provided in their rest homes dedicated to the Deaf and Deafblind elders throughout the region.

Brazilian Women’s Group 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. 

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.