Baker-Polito Administration Announces Awards of $15.9 Million for Community Health

BOSTON — The Baker-Polito administration announced $15.9 million in grants to 24 nonprofit community-based organizations, cities and towns, and regional planning commissions to fund community-health efforts in the Commonwealth.

These funds come from the Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds, administered by Health Resources in Action Inc. in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs. The 24 newly funded organizations are in addition to 32 organizations funded in 2020, bringing the total funding to $30.6 million for community-health efforts statewide. These funds are made available to the Commonwealth for community-health-improvement initiatives from healthcare entities that engage in the determination of need process.

“These funds bolster the administration’s efforts to support communities by increasing access to critical resources that are fundamental for public health, including affordable housing, transportation, and healthy foods,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said.

Community partners will use the funds to increase awareness of the impact of structural racism on population health and to address these disparities by effectuating long-term, meaningful changes in population-health outcomes, including mental health, chronic disease, and aging.

The funding focuses on three core areas: those working on long-lasting, community-driven policy, systems, and environmental changes that will make it easier to lead healthy lives and reduce health inequities; those organizing and coordinating community-health-improvement planning efforts to collectively set, address, and achieve community health goals; and those working to address policies and systems that increase opportunities for healthy aging. Click here for the full list of awardees.

“We look forward to the meaningful work our new partners will undertake to increase opportunities for healthy aging and for the expansion of healthy aging practices in new communities in the Commonwealth,” Executive Office of Elder Affairs Secretary Elizabeth Chen said.

Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke added that “these investments allow us to expand our support for community health efforts across the Commonwealth and fund the work of our partner organizations to ensure equitable access and inclusion in a variety of areas.”