Grant Partners

Community Action Committee of Cape Cod & Islands (CACCI) will conduct outreach activities and assist individuals with applications or redeterminations.  They will use informational flyers and educational presentations to health and human service providers, businesses that cater to immigrants, and career centers.  They will notify those on subsidized insurance of impending deadlines, importance of responding to reviews, and develop an internal system to notify known households of necessary action steps. Finally, it will provide a comprehensive overview of health plan selection process based on health care needs and budgets, and use of a plan once enrolled.

To redesign the organization's website.

The Health Starts at Home Initiative supports four partnerships that bring together housing and health care organizations to support work that demonstrates the positive effects of stable, affordable housing to children's health outcomes, identify promising new and existing models for collaboration that can be brought to scale, decrease health care costs, and decrease costs related to homelessness.  Families eligible for participation have children under the age of 12, and are experiencing housing instability.  The evaluation partners for Health Starts at Home, Health Resources in Action and the Urban Institute, are conducting both outcome and process evaluations to measure whether and how improved housing stability affects the health of children, as well as to document successes and challenges, and develop best practices for creating these types of health care and housing partnerships. 

To hire a consultant to restructure, re-design, and re-launch the organization's existing website. 

Health Care for All (HCFA) will focus its advocacy on achieving an affordable, accessible health care system for all Massachusetts residents. HCFA-led coalitions will work on behalf of consumers, addressing issues such as health reform implementation, oral health, children’s health, and health equity. HCFA will remain the coalition leader for the Campaign for Better Care, Oral Health Advocacy Task Force, and the Affordable Care Today (ACT!!) Coalition.

Project Director: Liora Beer“2017 Survey of Massachusetts Artists, Makers, and Entrepreneurs in Creative Industries” is a one year project that will examine the economic status and needs of artists and creative entrepreneurs, with a focus on health insurance coverage, access to health care services, and key social determinants of health such as housing. Artmorpheus represents artists and creative sector entrepreneurs, who – as demonstrated from a similar 1791 survey and report – are generally low and middle income individuals who disproportionately lack health insurance. The results from this survey will help identify if/what health coverage and access changes have occurred since 1791 and what opportunities and improvements remain. The results will be summarized in a report that will be broadly distributed to survey participants, local and regional arts service organizations, policymakers and government agency officials, and nonprofit agencies.

Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) serves unaccompanied homeless adults throughout the state, with a primary focus on the chronically homeless.  MHSA will analyze the impact of housing as a social determinant of health among the chronically homeless population through two permanent supportive housing programs, Home & Healthy for Good and Pay for Success.  In partnership with the Commonwealth Medicine division of UMass Medical School and Analysis Group, the study will estimate the impact of participation in these programs on health care use and costs, using Medicaid claims and enrollment data. 

Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) is leading a newly formed Alliance for Community Health Integration ("the Alliance"), focused on how the health care system could more powerfully impact social determinants of health.  In its inaugural year, the Alliance will implement an aggressive, multi-faceted, multi-year strategy involving significant leadership from numerous organizational partners at the local and state levels.  It will conduct key informant interviews of local grasstops and grassroots leaders that are working to improve social determinants of health at the neighborhood level, to help test and refine the Alliance concept.  The Alliance will also conduct a rigorous policy and political landscape analysis to identify opportune windows over the coming years, and recommendations on framing and community strategies needed for successful campaigns. 

Greater Lynn Senior Services (GLSS) is a Massachusetts' designated Area Services Access Point, and the principal source for home, community-based, and long-term support services for more than 30,000 low- and moderate-income elders, adults living with disabilities, and their families/caregivers.  The organization is focused on building healthy and more livable communities, where critical home and community-based services and supports are required to promote residents' optimal independence and well-being.  GLSS, in partnership with Boston University's Center for Aging and Disability Education and Research (CADER), will develop an evaluation framework for its Kiosk for Living Well program, which deploys vibrant, mobile spaces embedded in community pulse-points that inspire consumers to participate in activities designed to promote healthier living routines.  Currently situated at four senior centers and three housing complexes, kiosks represent community hubs designed to strengthen clinical-community linkages, facilitate health care access, and provide health monitoring and assessments.  The evaluation will deliver an evidence-informed assessment of both early impact and ongoing potential of the kiosk concept as a model for integrating health care and social services.   

BCMHC's Healthy Lives program, created in 2011, is designed to increase primary care and behavioral health access for patients with co-occurring serious mental illness and multiple chronic conditions.  The patient-centered model leverages intensive care management strategies to improve access, integrates care, and helps reduce barriers to treatment for patients with complex needs.  In addition to operating a community-based care management model – including home visits, and individual and group counseling – the program introduces self-care and wellness activities for patients to become increasingly more engaged in their own health.  Healthy Lives, which received Foundation grant funding in 2015, serves low-income seriously mentally ill adults living in Brookline, Roxbury, Brighton, Allston, and most recently Dorchester and Mattapan, with at least two chronic medical conditions (such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or COPD).  Work to date has shown that Healthy Lives significantly improves health outcomes and reduces avoidable ED visits for participants. The goal is to serve 250 to 300 patients over three years.

To hire a grant writing and strategic planning consultant.

Ecu-Health Care will utilize broadcast and print media to inform residents of health coverage options; provide presentations to community organizations; educate area businesses about health coverage options for employees; and work with physicians’ groups and health and human service organizations to facilitate referrals. Churn will be reduced through education during one-on-one application assistance appointments and health insurance literacy is integrated into a comprehensive packet for applicants.

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute’s (MLRI) health care work targets vulnerable populations who face unusual challenges in obtaining and maintaining health insurance coverage and care. MLRI will provide legal advocacy focused on policy and regulation issues in the Commonwealth in defense of low-income and vulnerable populations. One key issue is retaining coverage for those affected by redetermination through detailed critiques and analyses to identify standards and practices that are not in compliance with applicable law.

The Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers (MACHW) will promote community health workers’ impact on health access, quality, and equity. MACHW will build out its advocacy agenda focused on promoting the advancement and sustainability of the profession:  improving the community health worker practice, certification, and sustainable financing.

Health Law Advocates (HLA) will ensure universal access to quality health care in Massachusetts, particularly for those at-risk due to factors such as race, gender, disability, age, or geographic location. HLA supports four initiatives: the Health Care Reform Initiative, the Children’s Mental Health Access Project, the Medical Debt Initiative, and the Pro Bono Legal Network Program. HLA will provide individual representation for Massachusetts residents under 300% FPL who have been denied access to health care or have received unaffordable medical bills, public policy advocacy and, where necessary, class-action litigation.