Vitalyst Health Foundation is proud to announce the recipients of the 2022 System Change Grant awards. Systems Change grants are designed to support collaborative work that transforms systems to improve the health for our communities. The grants are three-year awards ranging from $150,000 – $175,000 total.

Investing nearly $700,000 in partnership with the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and The NARBHA Institute, the four grants will address trauma-informed youth coaching, intergenerational support for young men, and innovations in rural substance use recovery . This year’s funded partners  are Border Youth Tennis Exchange, Boys to Men Tucson, Construyendo Círculos de Paz (Constructing Circles of Peace), and Steps to Recovery Homes.

Below is what each Systems Change grant recipient will work to achieve the next three years with Vitalyst’s support.

Border Youth Tennis Exchange

Border Youth Tennis Exchange (BYTE) will lead and pilot an online, unfacilitated instructor training course that educates coaches and volunteer youth mentors on best practices in K12 trauma-informed education. BYTE will use its background of direct youth sports and enrichment programming in migrant and child-welfare shelters along the US-Mexico border as the basis for designing a practical introduction to trauma-sensitive techniques. After statewide development and implementation, this curriculum will be leveraged by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), providing a proof-of-concept for national scale across sports beyond tennis.

Boys to Men Tucson

Boys to Men Tucson will lead partners in the implementation of a trauma-informed mentorship program to help young men develop healthy masculinity and social connections. By incorporating restorative, community-based justice practices in places of many current punitive practices that aggravate harm for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) boys and have demonstrated links to the school-to-prison pipeline, Boys to Men Tucson and partners will work to positively improve the lives of young Black and Brown men.

Construyendo Círculos de Paz (Constructing Circles of Peace)

Contruyendo Circulos de Paz will lead partners and establish a coordinated trauma-informed response system to address the growing mental health and substance use disorder needs of underserved families in Santa Cruz County. Partnerships will address trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) from a systems perspective implementing local and culturally sensitive solutions that will reinforce recovery for Santa Cruz County’s most vulnerable residents.

Steps to Recovery Homes

Steps to Recovery Homes is pioneering efforts in substance use prevention/recovery to launch innovative Intensive Outpatient services (IOPs) in the Verde Valley area. Funding will streamline services and provide a “one stop” service delivery model where patients will receive support with mental health counseling, job training, housing, and other services. This will offer new IOPs for Arizonans struggling with substance misuse and strengthen a collaborative of agency partners to determine best practices for streamlined systems to reduce the misuse of drugs and alcohol in the community in the long term.