SHF: Basic Needs/Direct Service Grants Program (Ohio and West Virginia )

The Sisters Health Foundation’s Basic Needs/Direct Service Grants Program is a competitive grants program in which applicants can seek grants of $500 to $5,000.

Donor Name: Sisters Health Foundation

State: Ohio and West Virginia

County: Calhoun County (WV), Jackson County (WV), Pleasants County (WV), Ritchie County (WV), Roane County (WV), Tyler County (WV), Wirt County (WV), Wood County (WV), Athens County (OH), Meigs County (OH) and Washington County (OH)

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 07/19/2023

Size of the Grant: $500 and $5,000

Grant Duration: 12 months

Details:

Mission

Foundation’s mission is to promote healthy and sustainable communities by providing resources, strengthening collaborative relationships, and supporting initiatives that impact people in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Through this mission, the Sisters Health Foundation seeks to enhance the rich gifts already found in local communities.

Organizations that provide direct service in the form of material aid such as food, personal needs items, and emergency assistance to poor and vulnerable populations in their service area are encouraged to apply. Those who currently have such programs will indicate how their work helps strengthen individuals and families receiving basic needs services take a step forward. In addition to helping people on the brink of crisis, this grant program serves as an opportunity to connect families with needed services.

Priority Areas 

• Healthy Eating, Active Living
  • Foundation support projects and strategies that prevent or manage chronic health conditions by promoting healthy eating and active living through one or more of the following:
    • Education about the health benefits of a healthy weight, good nutrition, and physical activity
    • Efforts that encourage and support behavior change
    • Environmental changes that make healthy choices the easy choices
    • Increased access and distribution of healthy foods
    • Promotion and provision of opportunities for increased physical activity
    • Coalition and cross-sector collaboration that promotes healthy eating and active living through policy or programmatic change
• Thriving Neighborhoods
  • Foundation support projects and strategies that address improving neighborhood conditions where people live, learn, work, and play so that everyone has the ability to achieve their full health potential by:
    • Improving the accessibility, affordability, and quality of health and health care
    • Improving access to reliable transportation options so people can reach needed health and social services
    • Improving access to stable and safe housing to foster a healthy living environment
    • Supporting efforts to increase connections to community resources and to one another to foster an environment of social connectedness and belonging
    • Improving access to high-quality early childhood programs including in-home programs designed to improve maternal and child health, parenting skills, and child development as well as programs supporting the health and well-being of the preK-12 student population
    • Supporting coalition and cross-sector collaboration that improves neighborhood conditions and advances policy or programmatic change
• Mental Health and Addiction
  • Foundation support projects and strategies that address mental health and/or addiction. Related to mental health, they are interested in the area of health promotion and prevention. Related to addiction, they are interested in the areas of prevention, early intervention, and recovery support. They are especially interested in evidence-based programs focused on:
    • Prevention activities such as education and stigma reduction of mental health and substance use disorders; trauma-informed care practices and supportive environments in schools, churches, workplaces, and other community settings; and provision of mental health services in schools and school-based health clinics
    • Early intervention activities such as identifying and reducing individual risk factors for substance use, improving connections to needed services across various systems, and harm reduction efforts to reduce the number of deaths and the spread of disease
    • Building the behavioral health workforce, including peer support specialists/peer recovery supporters, supporting high school and college pipeline programming, and encouraging careers in behavioral health
    • Supporting people in recovery with positive supports such as housing, connections to employment, and transportation
    • Coalition and cross-sector collaboration that advances policy or programmatic change

Guidelines

• Funds shall be used solely for the granted purpose.
• Funded activities shall commence in a timely manner and expenditures shall be made within the period agreed to by the agency and the Sisters Health Foundation.
• Grantee organizations shall submit an activity and budget report within 30 days of grant completion.
• Grant requests should range between $500 and $5,000.
• Up to 10% of the grant can be used for administrative purposes.
• Organizations may apply once a year and are limited to a maximum of $5,000 per 12-month period.

Eligibility Criteria

Your organization is eligible if all of the following are true:

• Applicant organization is a tax-exempt nonprofit under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a public institution.
• The project will positively impact residents in one or more of the counties in their service area:
  • West Virginia: Calhoun, Jackson, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler, Wirt, Wood
  • Ohio: Athens, Meigs, Washington
• Provision of basic needs is already a demonstrated and integral part of the mission and activities of the organization.

For more information, visit SHF.