Better Health Foundation goal to improve community health

Quad Citians who need more or better health services could soon get some help. That’s because a new regional foundation will be awarding up to $4 million in grants to area groups that help improve community health efforts. The grants will be made through the new Better Health Foundation, which held a launch event Wednesday, […]

Quad Citians who need more or better health services could soon get some help. That’s because a new regional foundation will be awarding up to $4 million in grants to area groups that help improve community health efforts. The grants will be made through the new Better Health Foundation, which held a launch event Wednesday, Sept. 27, at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport.

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The launch — which attracted about 50 people from area nonprofit groups and various agencies — was held to introduce BHF to the community, highlight its first grant application round and show the health priorities that will be the focus of that first round of funding. “Your success is our success,” BHF CEO Melinda “Missy” Gowey told an audience that  included representatives from Friendship Manor, Hand in Hand, Family Resources, ImpactLife, Vera French Mental Health Center and other groups. “We are eager to invest in programs that have or will result in significant community health results. Our goal is to create strong partnerships, bring new ideas and approaches to the forefront and allow proven initiatives to reach greater numbers of people,” said Dr. William Langley, president of the BHF board in a news release. Dr. Langley was not at Wednesday’s launch event. The launch largely focused on the details and priorities of BHF’s first grant cycle. For instance, grants will go to groups that have or will have programs that focus on these health areas: mental and behavioral health; risk reduction of obesity and diabetes; and maternal and child health. Ms. Gowey told the crowd on Wednesday that a major part of those health priorities will center on local group’s tackling this question: “How do we get people to take an active role in their health?” Another part of BHF’s health priorities will center on groups that improve “community health” in the region. Ms. Gowey added the BHF is using the American Hospital Association definition of community health that targets “non-clinical approaches for improving health, preventing disease and reducing health disparities through addressing social, behavioral, environmental, economic and medical determinants of health in a geographically defined population.” Other BHF officials told the audience that while that top goal of improving community health will not change, the group’s health priorities could expand or change as it looks at the needs of the community. “We have no idea who we will fund at the moment. We have concepts,” Rob Woodall, secretary/treasurer of the BHF board said. Here are other details on the first grant round:

• Area groups will be awarded up to $4 million to improve community health over the next two years. The individual award amounts will range from $10,000 to $75,000.
• BHF will accept grant requests starting Oct. 1 from qualified 501(c)3 groups in Scott, Cedar, Clinton, Louisa and Muscatine counties in Iowa, and Henry, Mercer, Rock Island and Whiteside counties in Illinois.
• Letters of inquiry on the grants need to be received from Oct. 1-15. To receive more information on receiving grants, contact Elaine Schilling at [email protected] or call the BHF at 383-6065. More information on the grant process can be found here. The grant management portal is located here.

In addition to the upcoming fall grant round, BHF officials also said additional grants will be awarded over the next several years. For example, there will be a spring round of grants with awards ranging from $100,000 to $200,000. Letters of inquiry for that round will be received from Feb. 15 to March 1 next year. Other grants cycles will include a biennial summer round in 2024 or 2025. Those awards will range from $250,000 to $350,000. Also, there will be a discretionary grant round to help non-profit groups facing emergencies. Those grant awards will be up to $8,000, but most of the grants awarded in this category will be no larger than $5,000. The Better Health Foundation was established in March as an independent, private foundation. At that time, MercyOne, Genesis Health System announced that it would provide BHF with $40 million in funds to ensure its future as one of the region’s preeminent granting organizations. “I have a deep appreciation for the role of philanthropy in creating opportunities for better health and well being. It’s an extraordinary privilege for me to carry forward the Genesis legacy and to see funds result in people living longer, healthier lives,” said Ms. Gowey.