SYSTEMS CHANGE GRANTS: Changing systems to improve community health across the state

Vitalyst Health Foundation partnered with the Arizona Community Foundation to award Systems Change Grants totaling $524,948 to three Arizona projects.

2020 Systems Change Grants were awarded to the following Arizona projects:

Pinnacle Prevention received a $174,948 grant. Partners include Living Streets Alliance, the Arizona Alliance for Livable Communities, Health by Design, and the Arizona Partnership for Healthy Communities. The collaboration is focused on increasing infrastructure investments for opportunities to improve health through parks and recreation, transportation, and overall community design in rural and tribal communities.

South Mountain WORKS Coalition, fiscally sponsored by Southwest Behavioral & Health Services, received a $175,000 grant funded in partnership with the Arizona Community Foundation. Partners include the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Consortium, Southwest Elementary School, Cesar Chavez Leadership Academy, South Mountain High School, Cesar Chavez High School, Roosevelt School District, and South Mountain Community College. The Coalition will create a safe, resilient, and trauma-informed community school system focused on overall health and well-being of South Mountain by changing local policies and practices to address inequities of children and families who have experienced ACEs or trauma.

The End of Life Care Partnership, fiscally sponsored by the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, received a $175,000 grant.  Partners include Goodwill of Southern AZ, Tu Nidito Children and Family Services, Pima County Juvenile Court Center, and the University of Arizona. The End of Life Care Partnership will center direct input from youth to develop, implement, and evaluate youth bereavement services for Pima County Juvenile Justice Courts.

 

SPARK GRANTS: Supporting collaborations in the journey to address systemic change

Vitalyst’s first year of Spark grants were an overwhelming success investing in nine planning projects with incredible potential to improve the health of Arizonans.

1N10 Inc received a $24,000 grant to create a LGBTQ+ youth centered engagement strategy to create formalized housing solutions from prevention and diversion to positive and stable housing outcomes.

4th Trimester AZ received a $29,850 grant to bring together a communities of practice of 4th trimester perinatal champions in Navajo County, West Valley and Chandler and develop a how-to guide for cultivating regional 4th Trimester ecosystems.

Arizona Housing Inc received a $30,000 grant to create a formalized, collaborative system model for permanent supportive housing based health care that will decrease structural barriers, improve pathways for collaboration, and improve individual health outcomes for our shared population.

Arizona Sustainability Alliance received a $30,000 grant to breakdown silos between organizations supporting urban forestry in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area to establish consistent goals and plans across local to state and private to public sector.

Coffee Pot Farms received a $29,590 grant to bring farmers together to build common understanding of the water system and how to navigate the options to obtain water access as lack of water access is repeatedly identified as a priority issue to address among Coffee Pot Farms and the Green Team farmer collaboration.

Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District received a $30,000 grant to model District and School Site Policy development in rural Arizona to provide supportive alternatives to out of school suspension and in turn decrease the percentage of suspensions for all students.

Kore Press received a $29,888 grant to support the Gender Diversity Initiative (a recently formed community collaborative) whose goal is to innovate across sectors new systems-change solutions needed to effectively address the current lack of safety, and therefore access, for LGBTQ+ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer etc) youth in Southern Arizona classrooms.

Local First Arizona Foundation received $25,450 grant to address the urgent issue of farmland loss by convening a coalition of local stakeholders to determine necessary actions to conserve farmland for the future.

RAIL CDC received a $30,000 grant to engage residents in a neighborhood that have experienced major disinvestment and shift the system dynamics to center their voices and leadership to change the way large institutions and developers interact with historically disinvested neighborhoods like the CARE neighborhood.

 

Medical Assistance Program Grants

Following is a listing of Medical Assistance Program grants approved for three year awards by Vitalyst’s Board of Trustees in 2018.  Due to COVID-19, our Board of Trustees authorized an extension of one year for the Medical Assistance grants.  Requests for proposal for Hearing, Vision and Heart/Lung will reopen in January 2022.

Grantee	Grant Type	Amount per Year
Alhambra Elementary School District	Vision	$5,000
Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc.	Vision	$80,000
Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics	Vision	$8,000
Area Agency on Aging, Region One	Vision	$15,000
Foundation for Blind Children	Vision	$50,000
Society of St. Vincent de Paul	Vision	$10,000
AT Still University	Hearing	$50,000
EAR Foundation	Hearing	$170,000
Maricopa County Department of Public Health	Heart/Lung	$70,000
Crossroads*	Substance Treatment	$17,000

*The substance treatment funds do not use an RFP process as there is limited funding (<$20,000 available each year).