“The campaign is a new approach in advancing the issue of health equity that has plagued this state for too long.” Bob McKinnon, founder of GALEWiLL Design
HARTFORD, CONN. – January 16, 2013 The Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health) Board of Directors awarded Third Sector New England an 18-month $200,000 grant to launch The Campaign for a Stronger Connecticut: Building Bridges to Better Health in conjunction with GALEWiLL Design. The campaign, which aligns with CT Health’s objective to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities, targets leaders in business, education, health and communities. The Campaign for a Stronger Connecticut was created to help these leaders understand and address the critical link between the strength of their organizations and the health of their people.
Sanford Cloud Jr., board chairman of CT Health, says “Traditionally, the approach to engage people on this issue has been to appeal to people’s sense of fairness and moral obligation – with little traction to show for it. Research conducted by the founders of GALEWiLL Design shows that it takes a different strategy to appeal to people on this issue.”
Previously, the Connecticut Conference of Churches worked with GALEWiLL Design to engage leaders in education, health, business, and community organizations to develop a strategic framework for communicating about the elimination of disparities in Connecticut. The grant to Third Sector New England will specifically support the launch through the development and dissemination of an online toolkit and collateral materials, and will provide technical assistance to sector-based grantees and stakeholders.
Bob McKinnon, founder of GALEWiLL says, “CT Health has had a long and strong commitment to improving health equity across the state and we’re thrilled that they are willing to try this new approach to a long standing problem. There is no organization in the state better suited to tackling the issue in this way. They are honest brokers who can bring leaders together not just to do what we think the right thing is for society, but what is also right for their respective organizations.”
OTHER GRANTS AWARDED
CT Health awarded almost $1.7 million to 23 organizations at its 2012 fourth quarter board meeting to support the foundation’s work in children’s mental health, oral health and racial and ethnic health disparities.
RACIAL AND ETHNIC HEALTH DISPARITIES GRANTS
National Academy of Sciences (Washington, DC) was awarded a$25,000 grant to support the planning and implementing of an Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities, which convenes health sector stakeholders and experts in Connecticut in 2013.
National Community Partner Forum on Community-Engaged Health Disparities Research (Nationwide) was awarded a$5,000 grant to sponsor two individuals to attend the National Community Partner Forum on Community-Engaged Health Disparities Research. CCPH is a nonprofit organization that promotes health equity and social justice through partnerships between communities and academic institutions.
Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center (Hartford, CT) was awarded a two-year $200,000 grant to support The Saint Francis Center for Health Equity, a partnership between the hospital and the Greater Hartford Urban League, and to recruit and hire a Health Equity Fellow to bring better understanding of health disparities among African Americans in Hartford through engaging the hospital, the health care landscape, and the community.
Society for New Communications Research (Statewide) was awarded a one-year $140,000 grant to support the Healthjusticect.org project to provide a social media platform that informs and connects Connecticut residents online and offline, and encourages productive and dynamic public discourse and debate.
University of Hartford (Hartford)was awarded a $10,000 grantin conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Association of the Directors of Health, and the Connecticut Public Health Association to conduct a study to determine the public’s understanding and perception of public health. Results will be used to direct public health activities, programs and social marketing campaigns.
URU, the Right to Be, Inc. (West Haven) was awarded a $15,000 grant to provide bridge funding to continue its documentary, Present and Unaccounted For: Black Women in Medicine, which features some of the country’s most prominent African American female doctors who tell their stories about their groundbreaking accomplishments in the medical field.
CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH GRANTS
Three organizations received funding as part of the Connecticut Health Foundation’s five-year children’s mental health initiative to create community-based systems of early identification and intervention.
- Lower Naugatuck Valley Parent Child Resource Center (Derby) was awarded a $200,000 one-year grant to continue its work with police, training law enforcement in evidence-based Triple P interventions and expanding into neighboring towns.
- Manchester Youth Service Bureau (Manchester) was awarded a one-year $50,000 to support technical assistance, and its transition out of the initiative.
- Middlesex Hospital (Middletown) was awarded a one-year $220,166 grant to continue its faith-based strategy in partnership with the Middlesex Hospital to expand into the Latino community, and to increase involvement of the Middletown public school system.
Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance (Statewide) was awarded a two-year $150,000 grant to continue its work to reduce school-based arrests at local schools, expand access to early identification and mental health interventions for at-risk children, and build the capacity of stakeholders.
National Alliance on Mental Illness – Connecticut Chapter (Hartford)was awarded a two-year $50,000 grant to support its Keep the Promise Coalition Children’s Committee, and to focus their advocacy efforts on addressing access barriers to mental health care and the state’s investment in community and school based services.
ORAL HEALTH GRANTS
Children’s Dental Health Project (Washington, DC) was awarded a $25,000grant to assist Connecticut’s oral health advocacy efforts that promote access to high-quality, affordable dental care for families eligible for coverage through the new health insurance exchange.
DentaQuest Foundation (Nationwide) was awarded a two-year $100,000 grant to increase the engagement of primary care clinicians and dental leaders in the delivery of oral health preventive services through the National Interprofessional Initiative on Oral Health.
Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center-Center for Women’s Health (Hartford)was awarded a one-year $85,151 grant to improve the oral health of low-income pregnant women through education of obstetrics and gynecological residents from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and care coordination with Burgdorf Clinic and Community Health Services.
OTHER GRANTS
Connecticut Association of Nonprofits and the Connecticut Community Provider Association (Hartford) was awarded a $10,000 grant to support a study to assess feasibility of the two organizations creating and a new and different kind of entity that could better mobilize and unify the nonprofit sector in Connecticut.
Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers (Wallingford) was awarded a two-year $100,000 grant to continue its work to advocate for increased funding for school based health centers (SBHC), cultivate bipartisan support among legislators towards child and adolescent health issues, and providing technical assistance and training to SBHCs. In the second year, this grant will support a project related to health reform and delivery system integration.
Connecticut Center for Patient Safety (Redding)was awarded a$25,000 grant to work in conjunction with the Connecticut Health Policy Project to make comprehensive policy recommendations about the design, development, and usefulness of the All Payers Claim Database.
Connecticut Voices for Children (Hartford) was awarded a two-year $200,000 grant to work on coverage expansion and continuity as part of health reform.
2012 CHARITABLE DONATIONS
- Food Share (Bloomfield) received $10,000 to support community kitchens, emergency shelters, food pantries and other anti-hunger programs in Hartford/Tolland counties.
- Operation Fuel (Bloomfield) received $10,000 to provide access to year-round energy assistance to families.
- United Way of Connecticut (Rocky Hill) received $10,000 to support relief funds for Connecticut residents affected by Hurricane Sandy.
- United Way of Western Connecticut (Danbury) received $5,000 to support relief and mental health, and crisis intervention for the Sandy Hook School families.
About the Connecticut Health Foundation
The Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health) is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving lives by changing health systems. Since it was established in July 1999, the foundation has supported innovative grant-making, public health policy research, technical assistance and convening to achieve its mission – to improve the health of the people of Connecticut.
Over the past 12 years, CT Health has awarded grants totaling more than $49.4 million in 45 cities and towns throughout the state in three priority areas:
- Improving access to children’s mental health services
- Reducing racial and ethnic health disparities
- Expanding access to and use of children’s oral health services
For more information about the foundation, please visit www.cthealth.org or contact Senior Communications Officer Maryland Grier at Maryland@cthealth.org or 860.724.1580, ext. 21.