What’s happening: Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday break, the
Michigan Health Endowment Fund announced its latest round of grantmaking, a total of $15.2 million in new investments that will support 60 health projects and collaboratives throughout the state. The grants address needs in five categories, including healthy aging, special projects and emerging ideas, maternal and infant health, organizational capacity building, and racial disparities in follow-up care. Many of the 60 recipients in this latest grant round can be found in Michigan’s rural communities.
On healthy aging: The bulk of this round’s grants have been awarded to organizations in the healthy aging category. In Michigan’s rural communities, this includes
Livingston County Catholic Charities, which has been awarded a $139,916 grant to help fund a Rural Outreach Specialist and Case Manager who will connect elderly residents of underserved areas with federal, state, and community-based services. Michigan State University was awarded a $333,096 grant to expand their tech-forward program addressing disparities in dementia support and services in rural communities and ethnic minority populations. And
UPCAP Services, Inc. was awarded a $300,000 grant to develop and implement their new Regional Caregiver Resource Center with a rural focus.
Emerging ideas: Michigan State University’s
Michigan Center for Rural Health was awarded a $499,000 Special Projects & Emerging Ideas grant that will help fund a pilot program to enhance remote patient monitoring in independent rural hospitals. The remote patient monitoring and chronic care management platform aims to improve access to care for older rural residents.
On maternal and infant health: The small, rural
Hillsdale Hospital is receiving an $80,000 grant to establish their Centering Pregnancy group prenatal care model in surrounding rural communities. The new model will engage pregnant women in group settings, which the hospital believes will allow mothers more time with their health providers, help build community, and involve moms more in their own care.
Laurie Solotorow, who co-leads the grant program, says, “The goal of this initial grant round specific to maternal infant health was to support projects that address barriers to care for infants and their mothers, including evidence-based interventions, collaborative care efforts, and community-driven solutions that put mothers and babies first.”
Visit the Michigan Health Endowment Fund online to learn more about these and additional grant recipients and future grant opportunities for rural communities.
Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.
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