Grantee stories
Point32Health Foundation works with communities to support, advocate and advance healthier lives for everyone.
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Sparking conversations about ageism—at all ages
After graduating from Connecticut AgeWell Collaborative’s Community Leaders Fellowship, Lisa Bress, Teresa Gregory Hines and Cynthia Hyland, teamed up with collaborative staff to write A Kids Book About Ageism.
The book kickstarts important conversations about ageism, creating a world where we all truly belong, regardless of age or ability.
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Promoting diverse voices to advance more equitable policies
N.H. Alliance for Healthy Aging (NHAHA) promotes greater accessibility and inclusion by working collaboratively with organizations like Victory Women of Vision to incorporate diverse perspectives in policy decisions and advocacy. In 2023, NHAHA hosted 110 stakeholder meetings and engaged 540 participants with representation from over 275 organizations.
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Permanent supportive housing improves residents’ health and reduces costs
A new report from ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) shows consistently lower Medicaid-related health care spending for people who were formerly homeless and are now living in permanent supportive housing compared to Medicaid recipients who continue to experience homelessness. This finding validates calls for affordable housing and shows R.I.’s housing crisis is also a health care crisis.
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New Bedford coalition assesses and addresses community needs
As part of a Health Equity Community of Practice, Partners in Health and YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts are convening over 50 community organizations and leaders to understand community needs and identify priorities and strategies to address systemic inequities.
In tandem with this convening, PIH is also working with the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers to strengthen the community health workforce by identifying policies, systems and structures to support them, including reimbursement, professional development, training and technical assistance
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Halal meals come to Maine schools through nonprofit partnership
Cumberland County Food Security Council and Food For All Services are partnering with three public school districts – Portland, South Portland and Westbrook – to pilot halal school meals. These southern Maine schools will be among the first in the nation to provide externally certified halal menu items to students.
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RI Food Policy Council receives federal grant to support farmers
The Rhode Island Food Policy Council (RIFPC) was awarded $738,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program grant supports RIFPC as they lead state and regional partners to provide customized education, mentoring, and networking services to more than 100 Rhode Island farmers. Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Food Policy Council.
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Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative awarded $3 million to improve digital equity for older adults
A $3 million grant to Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative will support digital equity work in 70+ communities. The grant from Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) will go to training for blind and visually impaired people, programs to increase awareness of fraud, and outreach to boost enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program. This award is a part of MBI’s $20 million commitment to boost digital equity.
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Generosity of local chefs benefits those experiencing hunger
Gather works with chefs and food distributors to provide nutritious food to those experiencing hunger on the Seacoast of N.H. Using the kitchen at Great Bay Community College, the Cooking 4 Community program rescues food waste from local restaurants and provides over 5,000 fully prepared meals per month to the community. Their work was recently featured in City Lifestyle
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La Colaborativa establishes community hub
La Colaborativa’s new Chelsea Survival Center is a welcoming, culturally familiar hub for community life. The 28,000-square-foot space offers lifesaving resources including a large-scale food pantry, emergency housing stabilization programs, rapid re-employment, education initiatives, and a robust health equity program to support mental health, nutrition, and fitness needs. Point32Health Foundation supports La Colaborativa. Photo courtesy of La Colaborativa.
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Using yoga as a tool for self-healing in crisis
Mandela Yoga Project offers a scalable system of peer-led yoga as a tool for self-healing in communities experiencing racism and other systemic barriers. Their goal is to make this unique yoga practice available to people of color through public and private insurance so that it may be practiced where they live, work, worship and play. Point32Health Foundation supports this work. Photo courtesy of Mandela Yoga Project.
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R.I. Senior Fellows learn how to make positive change
Leadership Rhode Island and Age Friendly Rhode Island’s celebrated the 2023 Senior Fellows Graduation at the R.I. State House in August 2023. The cohort of 24 older adults were trained to advocate for changes at the state and local levels. Fellows learned how to create partnerships and catalyze change to build thriving, inclusive RI communities for people of all ages. Photo courtesy of Leadership Rhode Island.
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Full Plates Full Potential receives $50 million federal grant to bring local ingredients to schools
Full Plates Full Potential, a Maine nonprofit that advocates for ending childhood hunger, was one of four organizations nationwide awarded a grant as part of USDA’s $50 million Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. This funding makes it possible for schools to significantly increase the local ingredients used in school meals and ensures school nutrition workers have the skills and equipment needed to incorporate these ingredients into meals.
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ReiMAgine Aging podcast shows the Commonwealth is a great place to grow up and grow older
A new podcast series from the Executive Office of Elder Affairs and Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative features the voices of older people, state, community and non-profit leaders talking about healthy aging efforts, many funded by Point32Health Foundation, across the state. From a walking audit to culturally relevant meals to housing, The ReiMAgine Aging stories highlight what make Massachusetts a great place to grow older.
Policy wins in N.H. point to more resources for older adults
More than 300 grassroots advocates trained by the N.H. Alliance for Healthy Aging in collaboration with New Futures and N.H. Legal Assistance won a series of victories during the state’s 2023 legislative session. Their policy recommendations led to historic investments in New Hampshire’s long-term care system, including a comprehensive and coordinated state-wide system of care for healthy aging. A new Foundation grant to New Futures, announced in December 2023, will support the coalition’s efforts to implement the policy win.
Connection between food and diabetes explored in community program at Boston Public Library
“Navigating Diabetes Through Food and Community,” a Boston Public Library series, connects the dots between food and diabetes care. Topics ranging from community building and healthy cooking demonstrations to Qi Gong movement were part of this two-week program held virtually and at the Roxbury Branch and funded by Point32Health Foundation. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library.
OUTstandingLIFE creates community
OUTstandingLIFE is a new virtual platform designed for and by older LGBTQ+ people and allies. Funded by Point32Health Foundation, it offers online programming, resources and opportunities for connection—including Feel Good Fridays, intergenerational social events, plus legal and history programs.
The platform launched just in time for Pride Month in June 2023. New programs and resources will be added to the platform in the coming months. Photo courtesy of OUTstandingLIFE.
2023 grants support nonprofits changing inequitable systems and building thriving communities.
Somali Bantu Community Association model yields results
Liberation Farms promotes “food justice, community building, and education in the form of inter-cultural and inter-generational exchange and reciprocal learning of farming traditions.” Working together, Somali Bantu farmers in Lewiston, Maine, sell crops to food pantries, shelters and schools, increasing access to healthy, culturally relevant food in Maine. Point32Health Foundation funding supports this work. Their story was recently featured in the Boston Globe.
Connecticut Age Well Collaborative hosts Sharing and Caring Summit
The 2023 Wellspring Award winners Age-Friendly Glastonbury, Thrive55+ Active Living Center, Dementia-Friendly Southington and Central Connecticut State University were honored at an event hosted by Connecticut Age Well Collaborative, which is funded by Point32Health Foundation. The Wellspring Awards honor ideas and innovations that increase aging, dementia and disability inclusivity in Connecticut. Photo courtesy of Connecticut Age Well Collaborative.
Wayfinders' classes advancing digital equity in Springfield
Respect—for each other, for varied relationships with technology, for a shared desire to learn—is at the heart of Way Finders’ Digital Literacy Class for older adults, which kicked off in May 2023. The effort builds on the organization’s Flexing Civic Muscle program, funded since 2019 by Point32Health Foundation, which focuses on building digital literacy and advancing digital equity among older adults in Springfield. Photo courtesy of Wayfinders.
MCD Global Health coordinates response to urgent need
A behavioral health teletherapy program is changing the way students access behavioral health services in rural Washington County, Maine. A collaborative effort coordinated by Hallowell-based MCD Global Health (MCD) and funded in part by Point32Health Foundation now gives students and staff at Woodland Elementary and Woodland Junior-Senior High School in Baileyville, Maine, and across the county’s AOS 90 school district, access to virtual behavioral health services and other needed resources. Photo courtesy of MCD Global.
Flourish at Thrive food pantry opens in Worcester
With support from the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, Project Bread and a Point32Health Foundation grant, Thrive Support and Advocacy opened “Flourish at Thrive,” a food pantry designed to serve people with developmental disabilities and address food insecurity. Worcester Polytechnic Institute students helped create an accessible space to support community members with developmental disabilities who are four times as likely to have food allergies or dietary restrictions. The opening was featured on Spectrum News 1 and in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Photos courtesy of Thrive Support and Advocacy.
Northern New Hampshire Mobile Health Clinic hits the road
The New Hampshire Medical Society and North Country Health Consortium launched the Northern New Hampshire Mobile Health Clinic along with four partner hospitals: Androscoggin Valley Hospital in Berlin, Littleton Regional Healthcare in Littleton, Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook, and Weeks Medical Center in Lancaster. A custom van designed for clinical services will be available at locations across northern New Hampshire with the goal of improving health equity in Coos and Grafton counties. A Point32Health Foundation grant helped launch the mobile clinic.
Streamlining access To SNAP And MassHealth benefits
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and the Massachusetts Senior Action Council worked in coalition with 150+ anti-poverty and public health organizations to simplify access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. As a result of this collaborative effort supported by Point32Health Foundation, Massachusetts residents applying for or renewing their MassHealth benefits online can now easily initiate a SNAP application. This is an important step forward in advancing healthy food access and health equity in the state.
Legislators learn how communities support healthy aging
The Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative (MHAC), a statewide network advancing inclusive age- and dementia friendly communities funded by Point32Health Foundation. MAHC held for legislators and staff at the Massachusetts State House in March 2023. State Senator Patricia D. Jehlen and State Representative Thomas M. Stanley – co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs – hosted the event, which included an update on the age- and dementia friendly movement. Commissioner Emily Shea, who leads the City of Boston’s AgeStrong, presented alongside representatives from AARP Massachusetts, 2Life Communities, Mass. Coalition for the Homeless and Mass. Public Health Association.
MaineHealth Food Pantry building stronger, healthier communities
The MaineHealth Food Pantry at Maine Medical Center, with support from Point32Health Foundation, collaborates with immigrant-led organizations to improve food security by increasing access to culturally appropriate food and provide assistance in a variety of languages. The food pantry plays an important role in MaineHealth’s mission to work together so its communities are the healthiest in America. Good Shepherd Food Bank, another Foundation grantee, is a partner is this initiative.
Responding to LGBT elders
Older LGBT people face unique challenges. With our support, Jamaica Plain-based Ethos can do more to change that paradigm.
When life gives you lemons, make garden kits
At least that’s what the executive director of Keney Park Sustainability Project did when COVID knocked out his volunteer program.
Reimagining aging in the Granite State
A state-level commission will promote healthy aging in communities across New Hampshire. Three critical elements helped make it happen.
Veggies from heaven
Seacoast Eat Local, home of New Hampshire’s first (and Foundation-supported) mobile market —SAMM— has continued to provide healthy food to families in need but with a twist this season. Photo courtesy of Seacoast Eat Local.
A sense of community and food to go
Residents of an affordable-housing community in Northampton, Mass., received boxes containing beautiful local fruits and veggies from the farms of Western Massachusetts plus household essentials to help them stay safe and stay healthy throughout the pandemic. Photo courtesy of Grow Food Northampton.
Building economic security
The Massachusetts Senior Action Council celebrated a signature legislative victory: Governor Baker’s 2020 budget eases health care costs for 40,000 older people with low incomes. Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Senior Action Council.
Hope Community Garden – a Roxbury treasure
Residents of “Madison Village”, a vibrant affordable-housing community in Roxbury, Mass., enjoy expanded healthy food, cooking and garden programs. Photo courtesy of Madison Park Development Corporation.
Bridging generation gaps
Isolation can take its toll on older people—even affecting our health. In Central Falls, R.I., an intergenerational program works to change all that. Photo courtesy of LISC.
Rhode Island gubernatorial candidates respond to aging policy questions
At a 2022 forum organized by the Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island and 17 cosponsoring organizations, Rhode Island’s six gubernatorial candidates shared priorities for older people and plans to fix the states’ fragmented long-term care continuum. Photo courtesy of the Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island.
Older Adult Behavioral Health Network reflects on impactful first year
Following the impacts of COVID-19, the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH) launched the Older Adult Behavioral Health Network. Rooted in the grassroots advocacy of the Massachusetts Aging and Mental Health Coalition, the network works to improve the lives of older adults and support community living through advocacy, workforce development, and public education.
Addressing health inequities with nutritious food
Gather New Haven hasn’t let COVID-19 interfere with its mission of bettering health outcomes for Connecticut residents, implementing safe delivery/contact-less pickup and virtual nutrition education options for program participants. Photo courtesy of Gather New Haven.
Racial disparities too familiar to native communities
What Wabanaki Public Health did to be sure Indigenous communities in Maine had information to make informed decisions about getting vaccinated, and had access to COVID-19 vaccines. Photo courtesy of Wabanaki Public Health.
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Learn more about mobile farmers' markets
Hear from Mill City Grows in Lowell, Massachusetts and the Regional Environmental Council in Worcester, Massachusetts about how mobile farmers’ markets bring healthy, affordable food options to underserved communities.
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Creating a culture of inclusion
How did Springfield, Mass., become the first city in the nation to apply for and receive three age-friendly designations? Three words: Time. Tenacity. And collaboration. Photo courtesy of Live Well Springfield.
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