Call for Interest in Multi-Year Collaboration for Thriving Communities in Kent and Sussex Counties

Overview

_NOTE: Must attend a required Pre-Application Meeting. HCD staff will help prospective applicants determine whether this opportunity is a good fit and encourage those eligible to continue the application process. Deadline for Required Pre-Application Meeting is Pre-proposal Deadline above.
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Delaware Community Foundation

The Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) is a nonprofit organization focused on partnering with donors to build opportunity and advance equity in Delaware.

Our mission is to strengthen Delaware by maximizing community-based philanthropy.

Our vision is a Delaware where generosity expands opportunities for all.

Call for Interest in Multi-Year Collaboration for Thriving Communities in Kent and Sussex Counties

Healthy Communities Delaware (HCD) is pleased to announce this Call for Interest in Multi-Year Collaboration for Thriving Communities in Kent and Sussex Counties. We are currently working with fourteen communities and are looking for new community partnerships. We are seeking partners that are committed to collaboratively strengthening the vital conditions/social determinants of health that all people and communities need to thrive—humane housing, lifelong learning, a thriving natural environment, meaningful work and wealth, basic needs for health and safety, reliable transportation, a sense of belonging and civic muscle. This long-term support and investment are intended to foster new or support existing place-based collaborations in the Delaware communities experiencing the greatest inequities, with the long-term goal that all people and places in Delaware are thriving—no exceptions.

Our guiding principles for this work are:

* collaborate with communities
* embed equity in everything we do
* mobilize across sectors
* increase prosperity to improve health
* commit over the long term

What is Different About Healthy Communities Delaware and this Call for Interest?

* We collaborate with communities to strengthen the vital conditions/social determinants of health.
* We will support the work that your community decides is most important.
* We are committed to long-term work to enable meaningful community change, not short cycles like typical grants.
* After the initial 12-month investment period, applicants may consider a longer-term collaboration and will have the opportunity to apply for additional investment for this or other work identified in a new or existing community plan.
* In addition to funding, we provide or connect you with support tailored to your community’s needs (e.g., resources on best practices, evaluation support, storytelling support, professional development support, support accessing funds from other sources, and other community capacity building opportunities and resources).

Focus Areas

Applications must focus on strengthening one or more of the vital conditions/social determinants of health. Preference will be given to applications using best-practice or evidence-based strategies. Increasing equity is a foundational goal of this effort and should be at the core of the proposed work.

* Thriving Natural World
* Sustainable resources, contact with nature, freedom from hazards
* Clean air, water, soil; healthy ecosystems able to sustainably provide necessary resources; accessible natural spaces; freedom from extreme heat, flooding, wind, radiation, earthquakes, pathogens
* Basic Needs for Health & Safety
* Basic requirements for health and safety
* Nutritious food, safe drinking water; fresh air; sufficient sleep; routine physical activity; safe, satisfying sexuality and reproduction; freedom from trauma, violence, addiction, and crime; routine care for physical and mental health
* Humane Housing
* Humane, consistent housing
* Adequate space per person; safe structures; affordable costs; diverse neighborhoods (without gentrification, segregation, concentrated poverty); close to work, school, food, recreation and nature
* Meaningful Work & Wealth
* Rewarding work, careers, and standards of living
* Job training/retraining; good-paying and fulfilling jobs; family and community wealth; savings and limited debt
* Lifelong Learning
* Continuous learning, education, and literacy
* Continuous development of cognitive, social, emotional abilities; early childhood experiences; elementary, high school, and higher education; career and adult education
* Reliable Transportation
* Reliable, safe, and accessible transportation
* Close to work, school, food, leisure; safe transport; active transport; efficient energy use; few environmental hazards
* Belonging & Civic Muscle
* Sense of belonging and power to shape a common world
* Social support; civic associations; freedom from stigma, discrimination, oppression; support for civil rights, human rights; civic agency; collective efficacy; vibrant arts, culture, and spiritual life; equitable access to information; many opportunities for civic engagement (voting, volunteer, public work)

Available Funding

Up to a total of $350,000 will be available from the HCD Community Collaborations Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation. All or part of a request may be funded. Funded proposals will be shared with public and private investors with the goal of providing additional resources through co- funding. Because co-funding from other sources is a possible outcome, there is no limit on individual funding requests. Please consider the resources required to carry out your project in an impactful way and align your request with those needs.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* Applicants must be a 501(c)3 public charity (including projects with a fiscal sponsor), religious institution, or unit of government.
* For a fiscally sponsored project, the fiscal sponsor must be the grantee and a valid fiscal sponsorship agreement must be provided with the application.
* This Call is designed to support existing or foster new place-based collaborations with representation from residents.
* Applications from a community must demonstrate either:
* current collaboration among residents and organizations working within a community OR
* a plan to bring together residents and community-based organizations where that work has not yet been done.
* In addition to residents, collaborations may include community-based public charity organizations, community coalitions, civic associations, faith-based organizations, schools, government entities (e.g., municipalities) for charitable use, etc.
* Eligible Communities
* This opportunity is open to communities with the highest level of need.
* The greatest opportunities to improve health, well-being and equity exist in these communities.
* Using the Area Deprivation Index, applicants must primarily focus work within one or more of the priority census block groups with the highest levels of need, levels 8-10
* Proposals may include work in a larger geographic area if it includes and is primarily focused on one or more of the priority census block groups (e.g. a self- defined community with borders that encompass an area that includes one or more of the priority census block groups).
* Lead organizations or collaborating organizations should be located within, or currently working within, the census block groups they are applying for.
* Use of Funds
* A combination of contractual, project, salary and capital expenses may be requested.
* Not all capital requests are appropriate for this collaboration and funding opportunity.
* Examples of capital requests addressing social determinants/vital conditions that may be funded are:
* Light construction to clear or revitalize a green space
* Renovation of homes for vulnerable populations to increase safety and healthy home environments
* Minor exterior home repairs as part of a larger initiative to improve housing or blighted streets
* Lighting to increase street safety and walkability
* Revitalization of a school play yard that will become accessible to the public

Ineligibility

* Examples of requests that will not be funded are:
* The purchase of land
* Endowments
* Religious organizations for sectarian purposes
* However, projects that serve the entire community, regardless of religious affiliation, are eligible for support.

* Annual fundraising campaigns or general operating expenses

* Projects completed before the application deadline of this proposal
* Individuals
* Special events
* Debt reduction
* For-profit businesses
* Purchase of office equipment, furniture or electronics
* Exceptions may occur at the Grants Committee’s discretion, for projects that build and/or sustain an organization’s technology infrastructure.
* Such projects must clearly demonstrate the impact of this type of capacity investment.
* Direct lobbying
* Any organization or project that is inconsistent with the mission, vision, values, and strategy of HCD.
* Organizations or projects that unlawfully discriminate with regard to employees, volunteers, delivery of programs or services, or clients served based on age, sex, religion/creed, race, color, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, marital status, military or veteran status, pregnancy or genetic information.