LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Feb. 9, 2018) – The Community Foundation of Louisville, in partnership with the Center for Health Equity, Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, the Humana Foundation, and Metro United Way have announced the establishment of the Health Equity Fund to support local nonprofits working towards improving root causes of health.
The $150,000 fund will award a minimum of $40,000 each year for the next three years to reduce health inequities in our community and improve health outcomes.
The Community Foundation of Louisville and its partners encourage nonprofits to apply for one of two $20,000 grants at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/center-health-equity/health-equity-fund by March 5, 2018. The grant award winners will be notified in late March.
Eligibility
• Nonprofit, 501(c)(3) public charities in good standing, or charitable projects that are fiscally sponsored by a tax-exempt organization
• Located in and serve the residents of Jefferson County
• Equity is a core value of their work
• Propose a use of funds that will strengthen the organization’s ability to address barriers that prevent students from achieving their full educational potential
Born out of the work of the Center for Health Equity and through a collaboration of organizations working to reduce inequities and improve health outcomes, Louisville received the Culture of Health Prize and an award of $25,000 award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in 2016. Because of the generous donations by Community Foundation of Louisville, Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, the Humana Foundation and Metro United Way, the initial prize money was leveraged to raise a total of $150,000 to start the Louisville Health Equity Fund.
Although the Culture of Health prize is a phenomenal celebration of the hard work in Louisville, the 2017 Health Equity Report shows a 12.6-year difference in life expectancy among populations, depending on where you live or who you are. In order to improve health outcomes in our community, it is critical to address root causes through an equity lens. The Health Equity Fund seeks to highlight what it can look like to practice equity in a meaningful way.
In January 2018, the Center for Health Equity engaged nearly 200 residents from numerous community groups and asked them to prioritize which of the 11 root causes highlighted in the 2017 Health Equity Report should be funded in the first round of grants from the Health Equity Fund. Education was a clear priority. For residents, education is inclusive of early childhood through postgraduate and is intricately linked to other root causes.
In response to these discussions, the 2018 grants from the Health Equity Fund will strengthen nonprofit organizations’ ability to address barriers that prevent students from achieving their full educational potential.
For questions about grants from the Health Equity Fund, please contact Aja Barber, [email protected]Â or (502) 574 6646.
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