The mission of the Health Foundation is to improve the health status of residents of the Greater Rochester community, including people whose unique health care needs have not been met because of race, ethnicity, or income.
In 2017, to expand our support of efforts to improve children’s health and respond to urgent needs in the community, the Greater Rochester Health Foundation developed an updated strategic plan – Healthy Futures: Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Children 0-8. The Healthy Futures Strategy will guide our investments over the next decade. The strategy includes three elements, designed to work synergistically, and supports the work of many other community organizations to change the landscape of opportunities for children.
The Healthy Futures Strategy includes three elements, designed to work synergistically, and supports the work of many other organizations in the community to change the landscape of opportunities for children.
Finding What Works: Approaches for Healthy Futures
Efforts will identify, test, and integrate evidence-based, whole child health interventions into elementary schools, childcare settings, and other venues and evaluate their efficacy. Further efforts will explore and test better ways to tackle the challenge of engaging with and assisting parents and families.
Building Community Capacity for Healthy Futures
Focuses on building capacity, resources, collaborations, and skills for the physical, nutritional, cognitive, social, and emotional wellbeing of children. Includes the creation of a Training and Coaching Center that will provide the infrastructure to link organizations and practitioners to assessment, education, training, coaching, and organizational improvement resources to improve the health and wellbeing of children within multiple settings. Community Tables are venues for knowledge sharing and cooperation with others in the region working to promote healthy children. Through participation in and hosting community tables, such as the Implementation Task Force, actions towards systems changed are conceptualized and advanced. Lastly, dissemination and replication efforts will ensure that successful strategies are shared and scaled to benefit more children and families.
Healthi Kids: Voices for Healthy Futures
Reflects policy and advocacy work directed towards increasing the quality and capacity of services accessible to children and families and promoting healthy environments for development.
Grants that are open to the general community are announced on our website and in our newsletters. For the organizations for which we have addresses, funding opportunities also are announced through email and direct mail. To receive announcements, please register now.
How to Apply for Funding For grant opportunities that occur annually, referred to as Opportunity Grants, the Request for Proposals is typically announced in the spring. All prospective grantees are asked to submit a Letter of Intent. We offer conference calls for prospective grantees during which we provide an overview of the process and invite callers to ask questions. Organizations also may contact Director of Responsive Grants Sharon Legette-Sobers directly. We use the Letters of Intent to determine the expertise needed on the external review panels that initially read and score all proposals. Submitting a Letter of Intent does not obligate an organization to submit a full proposal. Typically, proposals are due in September.
Childhood Healthy Weight grants are typically by invitation. Organizations that serve the target population and whose expertise is consistent with the area of focus are notified and invited to submit a proposal. Contact Director of Healthy Futures Heidi Burke directly if you have specific questions about funding.
Neighborhood Health Status Improvement grants become open periodically. (Check the home page for current funding opportunities -- click on Link to More Info, below.) We offer informational forums to help organizations understand the Health Foundation’s philosophy on Neighborhood Health Status Improvement. Contact Senior Program Officer Maynor Gonzalez with specific questions about funding.
Off-cycle requests for funding may be considered, depending upon the availability of funds and the merit of the proposed program.
» Link to More Info
For Grantwriting/Program Development Assistance:
Grants Office
Phone: (585) 352-2773
Email: [email protected]