Health and Environmental Justice Grant

The Health and Environmental Justice Grant aims to address health disparities influenced by environmental factors in communities, particularly in Waterbury, Connecticut. This grant supports initiatives that enhance access to healthcare, affordable housing, and nutritious food, especially for BIPOC residents. The Foundation seeks to empower organizations that advocate for systemic change and improve health outcomes in underprivileged areas. By focusing on holistic community support, the grant endeavors to create equitable health opportunities for all.

This new grant area combines two of the Foundation’s old grant areas including Healthy Communities and Environment. Within Health and Environmental Justice, we recognize that your health is influenced by where you are born, live, learn, work, play, worship and age. Data shows us that there are differences in the environments within which residents live across our region.
Waterbury has the highest live birth rate and highest infant mortality rate in Connecticut.Access to prenatal care varies by community. In Waterbury over 18% of pregnant women received late or no prenatal care, this number increases for Black and Latina mothers.Children in Waterbury are disproportionately affected by asthma. Slightly more than 21% have been diagnosed with asthma compared to the 15% in Connecticut and 13.4% in the nation.In 2016, out of cities with at least, 100,000 residents, Waterbury had the highest eviction rate in the Northeast and it is the 22nd highest in the nation.43% of residents in the Foundation’s region who make $15,000 or less report not having enough money to buy food for their families
Supporting programs, advocacy and system change efforts that address health disparityIncreasing access to safe and affordable housingImproving food systems to ensure access and affordabilityImproving health systems to ensure access, culturally responsive practices, and affordabilityApplying an Environmental Justice lens to projects that seek to clean up land, air and neighborhoods in order to positively impact health
Collaborations that improve access to basic needs (such as food and housing) and to preventative health care especially for BIPOC residentsEvidence-based prevention and chronic disease management programs for diabetes, obesity, tobacco use, asthma, mental health first aid, and fallsHousing advocacy efforts that address high eviction rates, safe housing (lead abatement) and affordability in WaterburyExpanding access to behavioral health and substance abuse interventions, especially in multi-lingual and rural communitiesSystem improvements that support increased access to medical and behavioral health services (such as transportation and telehealth)Efforts to advocate for environmental justice in Waterbury and work toward reducing environmental disparities across communities.

Eligibility

In order to apply for funding, an organization must:Be a not-for-profit organization recognized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a municipal entity seeking a grant for public purposes. Organizations may also have a nonprofit fiscal sponsor, if they do not have their own nonprofit status.Have a board, representative of the community, of which a majority is neither employees nor relatives of employees.Possess a Nonprofit Registration to Solicit Funds (or exemption, if appropriate) from the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. This registration must be renewed annually. Learn more, confirm registration or file for an exemption.

Ineligibility

We do not fund:Requests for political or religious purposesRequests for capital expenditures on buildings not owned by a nonprofit