Community-Initiated Solutions

Community-Initiated Solutions is sponsored by The Colorado Health Foundation. Provides funding for community-driven projects that address mental health resources for teens and adults, health equity, and social-emotional development.

Community-Initiated Solutions | The Colorado Health Foundation Connect with a Program Officer Connect with a Program Officer Community-Initiated Solutions At The Colorado Health Foundation, we believe that keeping equity at the heart of our work will lead us to better health. We know that all communities have their own unique assets and often have the best ideas for solving their own health-related challenges.

When community members who experience the problem themselves identify the issue and then work to generate and implement the solutions, they are able to raise their collective voice and strengthen their own power. The resulting community-initiated solutions are more likely to serve the needs of the specific community and demonstrate more long-term impact.

However, community change efforts are too often carried out by organizations whose work is done “to” or “for” community members, rather than in partnership “with” them or “by” the community members themselves. With this funding opportunity, the Foundation is reaching out to community members directly and the organizations that support their actions through partnerships.

Given the Foundation’s intent to advance health equity, proposals that center on communities of color shall receive priority consideration. We want to fund ideas that increase health equity and lead to healthier communities by implementing solutions where community members who experience the problem drive the decision-making toward the solution.

We want to provide an opportunity for the people themselves to address the health challenges that directly affect their lives. The Foundation is not determining which health focus/challenge will be chosen, or suggesting the approach to solving it. We want community members themselves to identify the health issue they want to tackle and take the lead in designing and implementing solutions.

Thus, applications may request funding to support a range of programs and/or projects identified by community members as necessary to address their own health challenges.

As part of these proposed programs and/or projects identified, we require that organizations collaboratively work with community members to: Address a health challenge Develop and implement a solution Leverage existing strengths and resources Proposed programs and/or projects must reflect the Foundation’s cornerstones . These outline who we serve, how our work is informed and our intent to create health equity . Have questions?

We’re here to talk through your ideas and encourage you to connect with us before applying for funding. Use this tool to connect with a program officer based on your area of interest or geographic area. Still have questions?

Reach out to us by email or by phone at 303-953-3600. Si necesita acceder la solicitud de fondos en español, por favor contáctenos a [email protected] . Click on the below accordion menu for additional detail on funding criteria to help prepare you for submitting a grant proposal.

Aligns with our cornerstones; priority given to proposals demonstrating partnership “with” or “by” people of color. Clarify the specific issue/challenge and how it impacts health. Illustrate that the health challenge was identified and the proposed solution were developed by community members.

Articulate how the implementation of the program/project and who is leading the effort are community members. Explain how the proposed solution is not only actionable but within the existing capacity of the community. (Preference will be given to proposals that build upon and leverage existing community capacity to successfully implement the solution.)

Demonstrate how the solution will improve health equity Examples of organizations considered for funding Community-based groups or nonprofit organizations (at this time, community groups or community-based organizations without 501(c)(3) nonprofit status will need to partner with a fiscal sponsor).

Other applicants that can demonstrate a substantial commitment to community-identified and community-led efforts to address complex health-related issues and/or challenges. Community : A social group of any size whose members reside in a specific and shared locality, and often have common characteristics, interests and/or cultural and historical heritage.

Health equity : Health equity exists when there are no unnecessary, avoidable, unfair, unjust or systemically-caused differences in health status. Local/locality : A community belonging or relating to a particular geographic area, specifically at the sub-regional level, and commonly described as neighborhood, sub-area, district, town, city, municipality or county; or a distinct population found at the sub-regional level.

People of Color (POC): Refers to Arab/Middle Eastern, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Indigenous/Native American and multiracial communities. Power : At its core, power is defined the ability 1) to do something or act in a particular way and 2) to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.

We often partner with third-party evaluators, contractors and other organizations over the course of our work with applicants and grantees. Your application and its attachments may be shared with these individuals or entities during the review process and grant cycle.

All third-party organizations partnering with the Foundation have signed a confidentiality agreement and will not use or share the information for purposes outside of the scope of work specific to the grant application or grant award. If you have any concerns or would like additional information, please email [email protected] or call our senior director of Grantmaking Operations at 303-953-3600.

Watch an informational webinar about Community-Initiated Solutions here: Have questions? Contact your Program Officer for more information. Find A Program Officer 🔍︎ Press enter / return on your keyboard to search