MGH Community Health Impact Funds Background:

In 2022, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) began construction on a state-of-the-art clinical building in Boston—the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building. This capital expenditure triggered the largest ever Determination of Need (DoN) process in Massachusetts history, resulting in a $62M dollar investment in the communities that Mass General Brigham serves. Learn more about the Community Health Impact Funds.

The MGH Community Advisory Board (CAB), guided by the community driven 2022-23 Community Health Needs Assessment and Community Health Implementation Plan, has determined four funding priorities along with the strategies to tackle them—housing, economic/financial stability and mobility, mental/behavioral health, and food/nutrition security. Each priority will have its own Allocation Committee. Requests for proposals for funding dedicated to housing were released on November 1, 2023, and final proposals are now under review.  

We are now excited to announce a $3M dollar funding opportunity for organizations working on economic mobility and financial stability.

Poverty and economic stability directly affect the social determinants of health (SDOH)--those social and economic factors that have an enormous impact on a person’s health and wellbeing. Strategies that improve access to employment and education are crucial for reducing poverty, improving overall health status, and enhancing the quality of life for individuals and communities.

Economic Stability and Mobility strategies approved for funding include: 

A) Innovative Workforce Development: 

Adopt innovative workforce development strategies to train low-and moderate-income residents, as well as returning citizens (through e.g., apprenticeships, as well as promotion and training for new careers such as Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Community Liaisons, Childcare Specialists, etc.).

B) *Invest in Multilingual Workforce: 

Providing opportunities for bilingual/multilingual individuals, so they may be recruited in healthcare, education, and other industries, with the goal of increasing the workforce by providing specialized training (e.g., mental health/substance use training allows for an increase in CHWs & Recovery Coaches) to low-income, immigrant, LGBTQ, seniors, and/or communities of color. This strategy also includes proper training for translators and interpreters. This is a wealth building strategy aimed at helping individuals to embark on a career with good earning potential, helping them to lead more stable and secure lives.

C) Training on Wealth Building and Business Loans: 

Provide entrepreneurs within the community with training on financial management and sustainability, how to establish wealth. and financing for new businesses (e.g., new childcare businesses, etc.).

Funding Description

For this round of funding, proposed projects need to address strategies A & C only or a combination thereof. This funding is intended to be flexible covering for operational costs, new or existing staff and with no in-kind required. The funding is for upstream projects, meaning improving/updating the operational infrastructure and policies that prevent underrepresented groups from working or investing in their communities. Funding will be prioritized to those applicants and ideas that show an understanding of the connection between health and things like housing, jobs, and education and propose to make those connections work better. Partnerships aimed to address service gaps will also be a priority, such as a workforce development office partnering to provide housing or food support. These changes can be within your organization or at the neighborhood, town, city, or state level and will result in enhancing inclusivity to workforce development and/or financing opportunities for underrepresented populations. For example, developing employer and school relationships for a school to work pipeline; integrating skill/language training opportunities within the workday; piloting an innovative loan program that address traditional regulations/policy barriers to loans for small/new entrepreneurship.

Strategy A:     

• $2 million dollars available for an estimate of 8-10 awards. 
• Max amount awarded $300,000.00 to be used over 3 years.
• Indirect costs at 20%.

Strategy C:     

• $1 million dollars available for an estimate of 10 awards. 
• Max amount awarded $100,00.00 to be used over 3-4 years.
• Indirect costs at 20%.

Organizations are asked to please request only what is needed for the proposed project.

*Please note - Funding for Strategy B: Investing in Multilingual Workforce will award a total of 6M over multiple years starting in 2025.

Eligibility

Massachusetts-based workforce development centers, academic centers as well as other non-profits such as community-based organizations, and municipalities serving Suffolk County are eligible. We are looking for a wide range of applicants doing innovative work on workforce development and/or wealth building and business loans in our target communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop.

Application Process

Applicants must complete and submit this Letter of Intent (LOI) form through the SurveyMonkey Apply portal. The Allocation Committee will review the LOI and, if selected, applicants will receive an invitation to provide a full proposal.

Dates and Deadlines

LOI forms must be submitted through the SurveyMonkey Apply portal no later than 5 pm on Friday, May 17^th, 2024.

Questions?

There are several ways to learn more about the LOI process, eligibility, application process, and other questions and concerns. We encourage applicants to:

• Review the FAQs, they are available in both English and Spanish.
• Submit a specific question by emailing srchiang@mgh.harvard.edu. All questions and answers will also be added to the FAQs, so check back to the link frequently.
• Register for the information session here: Information Forum Registration. It will take place through Zoom on Wednesday, May 1 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.