WICHITA, Kan. – Through its Impact and Capacity Grants (ICG) program, the Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) recently awarded more than $1.6 million to 70 Kansas non-profit or government organizations for health-improvement projects and organizational capacity building. Earlier this year, KHF provided funding to 17 eligible organizations under the ICG program, bringing total funding this year to approximately $2 million for 87 organizations. In 2018, 86 organizations received a total of $2 million.

Under this program, qualifying organizations may receive grants of up to $25,000 each to address goals related to at least one of KHF’s four impact areas – educational attainment, access to care, healthy behaviors or civic and community engagement.

“These grants are intended to allow organizations to better address the health needs of vulnerable populations based on factors that influence health outcomes – including race/ethnicity, income, geography and educational level,” said Michael Lennen, KHF interim president and CEO. “We very much hope they have significant positive health impacts across the state.”

The grantees below received funding in the second half of 2019. Click here to learn more about the 17 organizations that were selected in the first half of the year.

GRANTEES WORKING ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Community Children’s Center – $24,860 (impact grant): To provide childhood trauma and resilience training to early childhood educators to help inform and equip them to recognize, assess and respond to trauma’s impact on the social emotional development and learning capabilities of young Douglas County children.

Emporia State University Foundation – $25,000 (impact grant): Provide matching funds to establish and implement the efforts of a community collaborative that will ensure full funding for the local Dolly Parton Imagination Library satellite and the participation of all local libraries in the 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program for children 0-5 in Linn and Barber counties.

Fundamental Learning Center – $25,000 (impact grant): To train 25 educators to serve as reading specialists for children kindergarten to third grade who are dyslexic or struggling readers within eight identified high-need/low-income school districts to support increasing fourth grade reading proficiency levels in Kansas.

Kansas School for Effective Learning – $25,000 (capacity building grant): Conduct a campaign to build awareness and promote the Family Literacy Improvement Project that focuses on literacy proficiency of families in targeted low-income, high-risk USD 259 schools within Sedgwick County.

Kansas State University – $24,476 (capacity building grant): To collect data on demographics, geographies, enrollment and student success to assess the status of Native American education across Kansas and identify key areas for practice improvement.

Rise Up For Youth – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To create strategic marketing/communications and fund development strategies to increase capacity, sustainability and effective messaging to continue growing work for at-risk youth in south central Kansas.

Russell Child Development Center – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To formalize the Learn & Play Project curriculum (an early screening and development program) to disseminate and implement in other rural and isolated communities in southwest Kansas and beyond.

Success By 6 Coalition of Douglas County – $19,021 (impact grant): Launch the Dolly Parton Imagination Library focusing on recruitment with Title I schools within two zip codes before expanding to all of Douglas County to increase early childhood literacy and ultimately fourth grade reading levels.

United Way of Reno County – $25,000 (impact grant): To expand reach of Reno County’s Dolly Parton Imagination Library program beyond Hutchinson into nine rural communities to increase reading levels and kindergarten readiness.

USD 259, Wichita Public Schools – $23,358 (impact grant): Expand and conduct summer school literacy, math and STEM activities to help low-income kindergarten to third grade students in south central Kansas who are at high risk of educational failure to reach, maintain and exceed grade-level literacy skills.

GRANTEES WORKING TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO CARE

America’s Dentist Care Foundation – $24,940 (capacity building grant): To train dental staff to improve knowledge and volunteer capabilities to treat underserved patients at the Kansas Mission of Mercy and other charitable dental clinics.

Central Plains Health Care Partnership – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To upgrade the Project Access software system to expand data capacity, enhance user-friendliness, Internet interface, enhance provider and stakeholder communication and diversify revenue to support medically-uninsured adults with serious health conditions living in poverty in Sedgwick County.

Cleveland University-Kansas City – $25,000 (capacity building grant): Promote awareness and availability of low-cost chiropractic care at Cleveland University-Kansas City’s Health Center and outreach clinics for underserved populations within the greater Kansas City metro area.

Community Health Council of Wyandotte County – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To combine community health worker and assister models to increase the likelihood of sustainability and expand access to local and federal assistance programs for low-income, Spanish speaking families in Wyandotte and Johnson counties.

El Centro – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To increase Enrollment Specialist availability from part-time to full-time and hold four educational community forums to offer guidance and expand insurance enrollment for Latino families in Wyandotte and Johnson counties.

Family Promise of Greater Wichita – $24,750 (impact grant): To implement a new program providing support and stabilization services for homeless families with children as they enter transitional or permanent housing in central Kansas.

Florence Crittenton Services of Topeka – $25,000 (capacity building grant): Upgrade information technology infrastructure to make telehealth services available to families seeking access to care for children in need of psychiatric residential treatment facility services and post-discharge services throughout the state.

Gove County Medical Center – $23,980 (impact grant): To help a staff person become certified as an insurance assister and offer marketing assistance to enhance knowledge about the center’s ability to help people apply for insurance through the insurance marketplace.

GraceMed Health Clinic – $18,111 (capacity building grant): To hire a consultant to conduct strategic planning activities among GraceMed employees, stakeholders and board members, resulting in a three-year plan to further the mission and vision in Sedgwick County.

Great Plains of Republic County dba Republic County Hospital – $25,000 (capacity building grant): Purchase, install and implement blood bank data tracking software to provide accurate, fast and safe blood transfusion data to medical professionals and improve access to high-quality health care in Republic, Jewell, Cloud and Washington counties.

Independence – $17,872 (capacity building grant): Incorporate technology designed to maximize independence through peer support, training, community education, access to services and care for low-income and rural populations with disabilities in Douglas County and the surrounding communities.

Interfaith Housing & Community Services – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To purchase and implement updated server capabilities to increase client access, improve efficiency and expand services to low-income Kansans, specifically those in southern and western rural Kansas.

Kansas Head Start Association (KHSA) – $25,000 (impact grant): To update KHSA Parent Health Literacy training curriculum and materials based on an assessment of a 12-year-old program to provide health literacy resources and training to parents/caregivers of young children throughout the state.

Kansas Interfaith Action – $25,000 (impact grant): To coordinate community and statewide actions that support Medicaid Expansion and other elements of the People’s Healthcare Bill for low-income, disabled and working-class residents.

Konza Prairie Community Health Center – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To implement a population health module to improve data analytics capabilities and increase access to quality care by screening and addressing social determinants of health that impact the medically-underserved populations of Geary County and surrounding areas.

KU School of Medicine-Wichita, Rural Health Education and Services – $25,000 (impact grant): Create a resource guide outlining a financially-sustainable behavioral health staffing model that includes reimbursement coding options that health care organizations can use in their efforts to build a stronger workforce and increase access to care across Kansas – especially in rural and Health Professional Shortage Area-designated areas.

Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To hire a Quality and Compliance Specialist to ensure standards compliance in providing comprehensive coordinated care to Sedgwick County children, adults and families experiencing mental illness and/or substance use.

Midland Care Connection – $17,850 (capacity building grant): To provide intensive training to hospice providers to improve organizational processes and efficiency to increase access to quality care for residents within four targeted Kansas regions: Southeast, south central, northeast and north central.

NAMI Kansas – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To hire two quarter-time Affiliate Development Specialists in Hays and Dodge City to expand availability and capacity of NAMI Kansas programs and mental health support in northwest and southwest Kansas.

Pawnee Mental Health Services – $25,000 (impact grant): To hire a case manager to facilitate access to local mental health crisis stabilization opportunities for individuals experiencing a self-defined behavioral health crisis in north central and northeast Kansas.

Phillips County Hospital dba Phillips County Health Systems – $7,845 (capacity building grant): To expand access to care for rural Phillips County residents by providing Behavioral Health Consultant Training to consultants and primary care providers to develop and refine clinical skills and competencies.

Riley County Health Department – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To develop and implement a marketing and communication strategy to increase awareness of public health department programs and services for Riley County residents.

Turner House Clinic dba Vibrant Health – $25,000 (capacity building grant): Create and implement successful community marketing initiatives to raise awareness and use of affordable, high-quality health services for uninsured and underserved families in Wyandotte County.

GRANTEES WORKING TO IMPROVE HEALTHY BEHAVIORS

After the Harvest – $25,000 (capacity building grant): Hire contractor to develop online engagement and donor development to build financial sustainability and increase volume and variety of nutritious produce for food-insecure families, children and seniors in northeast Kansas.

Bethel Neighborhood Center – $25,000 (impact grant): To implement a new transitional program that teaches healthy lifestyles, nutrition, disease prevention and cultural social skills and provides meals and transportation to low-income, immigrant students in Wyandotte County.

Breakthrough House – $25,000 (impact grant): Provide nutrition education classes, healthy food snack shop, physical activity opportunities and commit to becoming a smoke-free facility to reduce health complications and elevate quality of life for Shawnee County consumers.

Central Kansas Mental Health Center – $24,000 (impact grant): To offer training to direct service staff through in-house Certified Cessation Specialists to educate and promote an agency-wide reduction in tobacco/nicotine use among staff members and clients with mental illness in Dickinson, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Ottawa and Saline counties.

Community Mercantile Educational Foundation – $14,333 (capacity building grant): To hire a fundraising consultant and invest in updated technology to increase efficiency, build capacity and ensure sustainability of providing fresh produce and nutrition education to underserved Douglas County residents.

Cultivate Kansas City – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To contract for a feasibility study, leadership training and strategic planning expertise to lead and facilitate community change around food production, distribution and access. Funding will also develop a programming guide for low-income consumers, refugee farmers, local food producers, policymakers and other food system participants in the Greater Kansas City region.

EmberHope Youthville – $18,750 (capacity building grant): Implement the Uno Playground System technology that encourages learning and promotes physical activity to address the needs of vulnerable students at risk of cognitive loss, physical, emotional and social delays due to trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) at Opportunity Academy of Newton Public Schools (USD 373).

Four County Mental Health Center – $11,590 (capacity building grant): To obtain Tobacco Treatment Specialist training for personnel to improve integrated treatment opportunities, patient cessation support and community prevention efforts on behalf of behavioral health patients and citizens of rural communities across Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk, Montgomery, and Wilson counties.

Greater Topeka Partnership Foundation – $12,500 (impact grant): To hire a grocery store consultant to conduct a market feasibility study on bringing a full-service grocery store to Central Topeka to reduce food insecurity among adults and youth in Topeka and Shawnee County.

Harvesters Community Food Network – $25,000 (impact grant): To expand programming to five additional schools to provide food-insecure children and their families in northeast Kansas access to nutritious meals, snacks, produce and food staples when school programs are unavailable.

Heartspring – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To establish a healthy living foods program to increase access to and intake of fresh and healthy nutritional foods for children served by Heartspring Residential and Day School in south central Kansas.

Historic Northeast-Midtown Association – $24,970 (capacity building grant): To provide accounting, grant support and leadership development opportunities to increase engagement with residents in developing strategies to improve the health and vibrancy of their community in northeast Kansas City, Kansas.

Hospital District #6 of Harper County, Kansas – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To certify a registered nurse as a diabetic educator to create and implement a Diabetes Self-Management Education Program designed to positively impact the increasing diabetes rates in Harper and surrounding counties.

Just Food of Douglas County, KS – $25,000 (capacity building grant): Contract with a consultant to conduct evaluations of five key service programs designed to increase access to healthy food, reduce health barriers and cultivate self-sufficiency for 13,000 low-income individuals and families in Douglas County.

Kansas City Community Gardens – $14,600 (impact grant): To employ targeted marketing and community engagement efforts to increase gardening and healthy food production for Spanish speaking residents in Kansas City – primarily within Wyandotte County.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment – $24,750 (impact grant): Provide training and mini-grants to increase the number of Resist chapters advocating against the vaping epidemic for young people in western Kansas.

Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas – $25,000 (impact grant): To hire a caretaker for a tribal community garden and green house to assist in the implementation of a volunteer gardening program for children while ensuring sustainability and access to fresh fruits and vegetables year-round for the tribal community.

Legacy, A Regional Community Foundation – $20,710 (capacity building grant): To implement a sustainable local food network and collaboration with local organizations and county farmers to provide organic vegetables and fruits to food insecure and low-income populations of Sumner County.

Pittsburg State University – $25,000 (impact grant): To create an aquaponics operation to provide sustainable food production of fish and produce through a partnership between Pittsburg State University and USD 246 for residents within the food desert communities of Crawford County.

RSVP of Northeast Kansas – $25,000 (impact grant): To expand the RSVP Freezer Meal program and collaborate with the Marshall County Agency on Aging to eliminate gaps in service and provide low-income seniors with access to healthy food in Marshall County.

Sent, Inc. – $24,956 (capacity building grant): To hire a bookkeeper and consultant to implement a system for finance and grant monitoring, develop a fundraising strategy, provide training for staff and board members to strategically deliver programming and increase staff efficiency to expand tutoring and nutrition education to youth in the Hi-Crest neighborhood of Topeka.

Special Olympics Kansas – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To implement leadership and advocacy training for staff and volunteers and collaborate with other partners to improve access to care and provide education regarding healthy behaviors for individuals with intellectual disabilities throughout the state.

The Salvation Army – $25,000 (impact grant): To create a Choice Food Pantry that increases access to healthy foods for low-income populations and increases staff and volunteer interaction with clients to help with personal, healthier food choices and meal planning in Wichita and Sedgwick County.

Thrive Allen County – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To develop a sustainability plan to expand capacity of Thrive Kansas, a coalition of rural Kansas communities partnering and learning from one another to address access to care, access to healthy foods and tobacco use issues in their communities.

University of Kansas Medical Center, Department of Public Health – $25,000 (impact grant): To conduct Chief Health Strategist training and provide technical assistance to local health department staff to drive policy, system and environmental change around chronic disease driven public health needs in northeast Kansas.

University of Kansas School of Architecture on behalf of Dotte Local Grocer – $24,750 (capacity building grant): To hire the current volunteer manager and graduate of the Healthy Communities Leadership Academy to oversee daily operations, community outreach and grant writing efforts for the Dotte Mobile Grocer, a community-led mobile market effort to increase access to fresh and affordable food for low-income residents of Wyandotte County.

Van Go – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To hire a consultant to build organizational capacity around strategic planning, a needs assessment, gap analysis, program evaluation and professional development to maximize programmatic impact on the health of at-risk youth in Douglas County.

Wichita Adaptive Sports – $12,600 (impact grant): To create a competitive youth wheelchair basketball program to promote a healthy, active lifestyle of physically disabled youth from low-income families in south central Kansas.

Wichita Children’s Home – $24,358 (impact grant): To hire a food educator to conduct cooking and nutrition classes to increase access to, and knowledge of, healthy eating behaviors and strengthen life skills for at-risk and homeless youth in Wichita.

Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology dba WSU Tech – $25,000 (impact grant): Pilot Cooking Matters curricula to teach the effectiveness of kitchen-based, nutritional education for students enrolled in health care disciplines and practicing health care providers to further develop knowledge of a healthy diet and cooking skills to pass on to health care recipients in south central Kansas.

GRANTEES WORKING ON INCREASING CIVIC AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To strengthen capacity through leadership, audit and finance technical assistance following 501(c)(3) attainment to build credibility in efforts to promote healthy food access, active lifestyles and tobacco and addiction prevention in Crawford County.

Kansas State Research and Extension – Wildcat Extension District – $24,332 (impact grant): Provide technical expertise for SHIFT (Shaping Health, Improving Fitness Together) Labette County and LiveHealthy Montgomery County to engage leadership and increase community conversation skills to build the capacity of these two developing coalitions to ultimately move the health needle.

Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice Educational Fund – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To create a five-year strategic plan that includes hiring the first executive director and strengthening the organizational infrastructure and marketing plan to further impact civic engagement among the vulnerable populations in Manhattan and Riley County.

Opportunity Wichita – $23,750 (capacity building grant): Cultivate, implement and disseminate a model for anchor institutions and integrated data systems in Wichita that will be replicable across the region.

Youth Core Ministries – $25,000 (capacity building grant): To strengthen infrastructure by implementing a new secure portal and hiring an administrative coordinator to expand Core Circles programming to families below the 200 percent poverty level in five new communities: Atwood, Goodland, Meade, Herington and Harper.

Youth Volunteer Corps – $21,632 (capacity building grant): To hire a Kansas School Coordinator to expand access to youth service programs focused on service-learning opportunities, healthy lifestyle projects and academic success for disadvantaged youth in Sedgwick and Shawnee counties.

YWCA Northeast Kansas/League of Women Voters Kansas – $25,000 (impact grant): To design and implement a series of voter engagement activities around the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment focused on increasing civic participation among young people of color and low-income, high-percentage minority communities experiencing significant health disparities.