Supporting Healthy Minds and Youth Resiliency

Supporting Healthy Minds and Youth Resiliency is sponsored by The Colorado Health Foundation. This funding opportunity supports youth of color and youth who identify as LGBTQ+ (age 12-18) as they explore and grow their resiliency through identity, agency, and belonging.

[](https://coloradohealth. org/funding-opportunities/supporting-healthy-minds-and-youth-resiliency) At the Foundation, we recognize the critical need to honor young people and offer spaces that support ongoing growth and development in the face of various challenges, including the impacts of the pandemic, community violence and discrimination.

The experiences of living with the traumatic consequences of persistent systemic oppression can lead to higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicidality for youth of color – Arab/Middle Eastern, Asian/Pacific Islander, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Indigenous/ Native American, multiracial communities – and youth who identify as LGBTQ+ when compared to white, cisgender and heterosexual peers.

Moreover, they are less likely to have access to culturally relevant supports that help them thrive. Through our Supporting Healthy Minds and Youth Resiliency funding opportunity, the Foundation will support youth of color and youth who identify as LGBTQ+ (age 12 - 18) as they explore and grow their resiliency through identity, agency and belonging.

Note: If your organization provides similar programming with a focus on young people ages 18-25, please reach out to us to discuss your program and potential support.

Identity, agency and belonging help youth develop personal and interpersonal capacities, such as relationship development with peers and adults, problem solving, critical thinking, sense of awareness and sense of self – all of which are critical to strengthening resiliency and coping. Proposed programs and/or projects must reflect theFoundation’s cornerstones.

These outline who we serve, how our work is informed and our intent to createhealth equity. We anticipate funding requests typically ranging from $150,000 to $250,000 over two years. Funding will be provided as program/project support grants.

_**Si necesita acceder la solicitud de fondos en español, por favor contáctenos a**_ _**. **_ **To be considered for funding, organizations must meet the following criteria:** * Include the same group of young people and adults meeting over a sustained period of time to foster strong relationships and learning.

* Support young people as they build their skills and/or develop in each of the following areas: * Development of racial, ethnic, sexual and/or gender identity. Young people will feel affirmed in their identity and encouraged to explore who they are. * Demonstration of agency exhibited through exercising power and influence.

Young people will feel like they can make positive change in their lives and communities. This could take place through establishing and working toward personal goals, informing programmatic elements, and/or pursuit of leadership and advocacy opportunities in the broader community.

* Experience of belonging through establishing strong, supportive relationships with peers and trusted adults and understanding themselves to be a valued member of their community.

* Respond to cultural dynamics of the engaged group i.e. programmatic components are designed or adapted to meet the needs of their context and the population served; organization’s staff bring lived and learned experiences to understand needs, identities and culture of participants; and organization has a history with and is trusted by participants, who are engaged in informing, guiding and/or helping implement the work.

Organizations may seek up to two years of program or project support funding for maintenance, enhancement or expansion of work that aligns with the above criteria. The Foundation will be looking for ways applicants integrate their commitment to growing a sense of identity, agency and belonging for young people throughout their work.

An array of youth programming will be considered, such as (but not limited to): * Civic engagement and leadership * Poetry and the arts, including healing * Traditional cultural practice * Apprenticeship or job skill training **Agency:**Youth perceive and have the ability to employ their assets and aspirations to make or influence their own decisions about their lives and set their own goals, as well as to act upon those decisions in order to achieve desired outcomes.

**Belonging:**Youth feel like valued members of the community and live in relationships that provide mutual support and care. **Coping skills:**Coping skills refers to ways in which we learn to deal with various stressors. Each person copes with stress differently.

**Identity:**Identity refers to our sense of who we are as individuals and as members of social groups. Our identities are not simply our own creation: identities grow in response to both internal and external factors. To some extent, each of us chooses an identity, but identities are also formed by environmental forces out of our control.

**Intersectionality:**The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. **Resilience:**Resilience refers to coping and functioning well despite adversity or trauma. Grantees will be asked to report the number of unique individuals served by their program each year.

This funding opportunity also includes additional evaluation activities conducted by an external evaluator. We anticipate this will require time from grantees and program participants, who may be asked to participate in activities like interviews, surveys, etc. _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_ _or call our senior director of Grantmaking Operations at 303-953-3600. _ _**Si necesita acceder la solicitud de fondos en español, por favor contáctenos a**_ _**. **_ Engaging Colorado's FFN Child Care Providers in Ea...

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