Grant Partners

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.  

The Massachusetts COVID-19 Maternal Equity Coalition will conduct a strategic planning process that aims to create and sustain a multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary, community-driven group devoted to improving the health outcomes of Black birthing people. The resulting report will provide recommendations for opportunities and best practices on how stakeholders can collaborate to build bridges across the silos in maternal health.

Funding to update its seven-year-old strategic plan to better serve the complex medical and socioeconomic needs of its clients in a changing public health landscape.

Funding for iPads to ease outdoor patient registration at its mobile health unit and to provide hygiene items (including masks, sanitizer, and COVID education materials) to ensure safe access to care.

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

Funding for an online food delivery system and fulfillment center that will enhance capacity to meet increased need due to the pandemic. This effort will connect more people to healthy foods of their choosing through safe, socially distanced curbside pick-up or home delivery.

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

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) is the largest coalition organization in New England advocating for the rights and integration of the over 1.2 million foreign-born residents of Massachusetts. MIRA will secure funding for services and outreach to immigrants, state housing assistance programs, and other crucial programs for immigrant health and wellbeing.   Additionally, it will seek to end deep racial disparities in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in MA. MIRA provides the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition with ongoing communications services, including the regular release of up-to-date developments in six languages for dissemination to the Commonwealth's immigrant communities and beyond.

The Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands (CACCI) will assist individuals and families who are uninsured to apply, select, and enroll in Health Connector and MassHealth plans. CACCI provides individualized educational information so consumers may better understand notices, clarify next steps, and understand redetermination and renewal processes. During the grant year, it will coordinate with community organizations, including those on the Cape and Nantucket, to increase access to health insurance across the region. It also provides consumers with access to its SNAP Outreach Program staff.

Funding for an electric examination table for the health clinic, which serves women experiencing homelessness.