Grant Partners

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Hampden County
Program Area: Special Initiatives

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.

East Boston Neighborhood Health Center

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Chelsea, Revere, East Boston, Winthrop, and Everett
Program Area: Special Initiatives

East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) will develop and pilot a culturally adapted health education and nutrition intervention program to improve rates of controlled blood pressure for economically marginalized Latinos with hypertension in East Boston. The pilot will help EBNHC assess the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach and identify ways to improve the program, such as adapting the program to a virtual format.

Immigrant Family Services Institute, Inc.

Year: 2022
Amount:$25,000
Statewide
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Immigrant Family Services Institute, Inc. 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. 

We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Boston
Program Area: Special Initiatives

We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project will provide comprehensive emotional and mental health services in a leadership development framework designed specifically for women who are the relatives and caregivers of perpetrators of community violence. This program will help support these women to contend with the realities of their grief and anger while providing support to their relatives - who are victims or incarcerated or about to re-enter society.

Massachusetts Health Quality Partners

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Statewide
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) will partner with community leaders from the Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese communities in Massachusetts to better understand factors related to Asian patients reporting lower patient experience scores compared to other populations. MHPQ will develop a report and propose recommendations to improve Asian subpopulation patient care experiences. Recommendations will include ways to improve access to quality care or mitigate/eliminate healthcare disparities.

International Institute of New England

Year: 2022
Amount:$25,000
Boston/Lowell
Program Area: Special Initiatives

International Institute of New England 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. 

Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Worcester
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging will provide coordinated behavioral health services to older adults of color and their families by linking them to clinicians of the same race and ethnicity, focusing on families in which grandparents are raising grandchildren.

Public Institute of Western Massachusetts

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Western Massachusetts/Hampden County
Program Area: Special Initiatives

The Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts (PHIWM) will plan and assess the Massachusetts State Behavioral Health Roadmap through an equity lens for Hampden County. This project will involve engaging diverse stakeholders: families, youth, care providers, health care staff, and leadership. The findings will inform local, regional and statewide action through potential organizational policies and practices, state regulations, and legislation.

Rian Immigrant Center

Year: 2022
Amount:$25,000
Greater Boston
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Rian Immigrant 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. 

African Community Economic Development of New England

Year: 2022
Amount:$25,000
Statewide
Program Area: Special Initiatives

African Community Economic Development of New England (ACEDONE) 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. 

Father's Uplift

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Greater Boston
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Fathers’ UpLift (FUL) has developed an affiliate model of its evidence-based intervention, which it hopes to use to expand its impact and capacity. FUL will recruit private clinical therapists and locally oriented mental health/wellness nonprofits to implement FUL's evidence-based interventions, along with a comprehensive measurement and evaluation tool it developed in coordination with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2021. FUL's goal with this programming is to productively align with, guide, and equip clinicians, mental health, and wellness-oriented nonprofits to serve black and brown men, particularly fathers.

Ellie Fund

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Statewide
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Ellie Fund will increase access to clinical trials for high-risk cancer patients, who have low-income, and are people of color who would not otherwise have access to cutting-edge treatments. EF is partnering with leading researchers and oncologists to change the landscape of clinical trials, by addressing patient-facing barriers and ensuring they do not exclude low-income communities and people of color. EF will evaluate the success of these measures in increasing participation among patients of color and the ability of patients to adhere to and complete treatment because of EF services.

Lawyers for Civil Rights

Year: 2022
Amount:$25,000
Statewide
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Lawyers for Civil Rights 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. 

Agencia ALPHA

Year: 2022
Amount:$25,000
Greater Boston
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Agencia ALPHA 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. 

Transhealth Northampton

Year: 2022
Amount:$50,000
Northampton
Program Area: Special Initiatives

Transhealth Northampton (TN) will develop a pilot program to examine the effectiveness of a consulting model for gender-affirming care. This program will expand access by educating and supporting providers.  Under this model, the provider can reach out to Transhealth for a provider-to-provider consultation to ask specific questions about patient care.  In addition to individual consultations, Transhealth will create training and educational toolkits to expand the project’s reach and reach out to local primary care offices, medical groups, community health centers, and other local organizations to educate them about the program and invite them to participate.