Grant Partners

Gándara Center will support children, youth, families, and adults who are currently lacking services or underserved by the service delivery system by increasing their ability to receive high-quality outpatient services remotely.  The initiative will strengthen the telehealth infrastructure through the use of telehealth kiosks and will subsidize the purchase of data plans.

Funding to hire a consultant to help transform its work culture and service delivery model with an enhanced focus on racial equity, inclusion, and cultural competency to better serve its clients.

Funding for a consultant to create a program for 30 youth to discuss mental health issues and to reduce mental health stigma in the community.

This grant was made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding to support a 24-week health and wellness initiative for people with low-income. The initiative includes group sessions, nutrition, exercise, and relationship building to address depression, stress, isolation, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in communities of color.

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. 

Caring Health Center (CHC) works to increase insurance enrollment and access to benefits among uninsured and underinsured residents of the Springfield area, including immigrants, refugees, non-English speaking individuals, and persons of color. CHC will increase health insurance enrollment through outreach, education, eligibility screening, plan selection, and assistance in submitting documentation to obtain and maintain coverage. During the grant year, it will increase individual capacity to navigate changes in coverage through, culturally- and linguistically responsive, one-on-one and group education, advocacy, and counseling. CHC will collaborate with refugee resettlement agencies, cultural organizations serving immigrant communities, schools, employment centers, providers, and social service agencies to increase access to health insurance. It will also continue to provide SNAP enrollment assistance.

Funding to hire a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging consultant to audit its staff training model, using a racial and gender equity lens, to ensure that staff deliver inclusive, equitable services to victims of domestic violence.

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. 

This grant funded the development and maintenance of of a centralized resource that documents and describes how Massachusetts, with support from the federal government, has implemented several policy and programmatic changes intended to promote continued access to health care services and health insurance coverage during the COVID-19 public health emergency. 

Health Law Advocates (HLA) advocates for public policy reforms that help consumers access necessary health care and provides legal expertise with grassroots organizing and policy reform to advance healthcare access.  HLA will advocate to reduce barriers preventing immigrants from accessing health care. It will focus on improving health insurance coverage for immigrants and reducing the medical debt incurred by immigrants. HLA will help immigrants access health care through three interrelated activities: policy advocacy, legal assistance for immigrants, and training programs for providers. Additionally, HLA will continue its longstanding advocacy for better access to mental health care for youth. HLA lawyers will advocate with policymakers across our health care, human services, education, and judicial systems to remove barriers to mental health care for children. 

Making Opportunity Count will develop the Diversified Provider Pipeline Project for college graduate students who are Black or Hispanic enrolled in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Fitchburg State University.  This project will help students satisfy graduation requirements, increase the visibility of providers of color, and better support underrepresented communities who are often unable to find providers who look like them or share their cultural experiences.  This initiative will begin to increase the workforce diversity at MOC and maximize the quality of services offered by the organization.

Clinical and Support Options (CSO) will increase its ability to provide an integrated behavioral health system that determines, assigns and begins the right service at the time needed for each person; increase prescriber hours; enhance addiction services; continue to improve the Greenfield Living Room peer support diversion program; and grow partnerships with community organizations, state human services agencies, and police departments.  

Funding to translate outreach materials into languages other than English for women at risk of inequities in access to cancer care, including: women of color, women with language and cultural barriers, older women living alone, and women hesitant to seek help due to immigration status.

Lowell Community Health Center (LCHC) provides culturally relevant health insurance enrollment assistance for people applying for new health insurance coverage and those who seek to reestablishing coverage. It also works with patients and clients to select primary care physicians and schedule visits. During the grant year, LCHC will conduct outreach and education at community partner sites, including those that serve immigrants, people experiencing unemployment, reentry populations, as well as faith and transitional living communities. LCHC will also assist clients and patients with online SNAP applications and will refer to community health workers for further assistance as needed.

The Immigrants’ Assistance Center (IAC) will outreach to members of immigrant communities in order to support increased testing and vaccination at places of employment and community health centers, provide direct personalized education to Black and Brown immigrants in their native language, and broaden awareness in the immigrant community about how to stay safe and slow the spread of the disease. Through this initiative, IAC aims to serve as a trusted source of information to immigrant communities about the importance of vaccination and provide guidance and direct services for every step along the way, from testing to vaccine follow-up.