Building a Healthier Charlestown

Massachusetts General Hospital and

Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

BACKGROUND

In 2012, Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Community Health Improvement (CCHI) andSpaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (Spaulding) undertook a community health assessment (CHA) and community health improvement planning (CHIP) process in the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown. MGH has been a part of the Charlestown community since 1968, and CCHI has worked with the community since 1995, primarily through its support of the Charlestown Substance Abuse Coalition. The recently completed health improvement plan highlights four areas – education; substance abuse/mental health; access to care/autism; and cancer prevention and access to treatment– as priority issues in Charlestown. While CCHI and Spaulding have identified initial strategies in response to these challenges, they would like towork with local agencies to strategically target their investments to improve the population’s health in Charlestown.CCHI and Spaulding will invest financial resourcesin local community-based agencies and organizations who are interested in collaborating to develop and implement evidence-informed and evidence-based approaches to impact one or more of the priorities identified in the health improvement plan. For additional information about the Charlestown Health Assessmentvisit:

Funding OVERVIEW

The overall purpose of Building a Healthier Charlestown is to improve population health by building and/or enhancing the capacity of local collaboratives to develop and implement evidence-based approaches to address education; substance abuse/mental health; access to care/autism; and cancer prevention and access to treatmentissues. To accomplish this goal, Building a Healthier Charlestown will fundfive year grants for 2-4 partnerships located in or providingthe majority (51%) of their services to individuals in Charlestown. Applicants are required to be a partnership of three or more entities which may include the following: community-based organizations, healthcare providers, local governments, school systems, faith communities, and other non -profit organizations.

A total of $750,000 ($150,000 annually) will be made available to support these multi-sector partnerships addressing one or more of the priority areas over the five year period.

Use of grant funds

Grant funds may be used for staff salaries, consultant fees, operating expenses, and indirect costs associated with the proposed program or project. For all grants, indirect costs, may not exceed 10% of the direct expenses. Funds may not be requested for equipment unless the equipment is determined to be essential to the operation of the proposed initiative.

Funds may not be used to build endowments, fund operating deficits or initiate or influence legislation nor elections. Requests will not be considered for construction of new facilities, substantial renovation of existing facilities, or to support capital campaigns. No grants will be made to individuals or individual entities.

As a condition for accepting grant monies, grantees must provide annual programmatic and financial reports detailing the use of the funds; documenting the impact achieved by their use; participate in site visits over the course of the grant period; and participate in periodic meetings of grantees. Receipt of ongoing funding will be dependent on satisfactory performance and demonstrated progressachieving work plan benchmarks.

selection criteria

Applications will be reviewed on the basis of the following criteria:

  • Strength of collaborative approach among partners.
  • Likelihood that the proposed program will have a lasting impact on the community.
  • Evidence that the initiative is data- driven, realistic, and measurable.
  • Ability of applicant to demonstrate sufficient experience and/or capacity to conduct project.
  • Ability of the applicant to leverage resources during implementation and sustain the initiative beyond the funding period.

application process

Requests may be used to support new initiatives or expand existing approaches with demonstrated progress toward clear, measurable outcomes. Applicants must propose approaches that include a collaborative of three or more organizations.If any applicant is interested in submitting multiple Letters of Intent (LOI), the applicant must prioritize its LOIs. An organization may participate in more than one partnership applying for funding.

Applicants are required to attend one of two Community Meetings to be held:

March 11, 2014 6 pm -8 pm at the MGH Health Center

March 15, 2014 10 am-12 pm at the Spaulding Hospital

Applicants must submit a Letter of Intent describing their partnership members, the priority area, and their approach to change conditions related to the priority area in Charlestown, which are due Friday, April 4, 2014 by 5 pm.

Following notification of acceptance of the Letter of Intent, successful applicants will be asked to complete and submit a grant application, which will be due Friday, May 30, 2014.

For more information please contact –Judi Foley at

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