Building and Bridging Connections Funding

All proposals must reflect the Foundation’s cornerstones and demonstrate how the proposed work will address health equity and center on racial justice.

Applicants must also:

1.    Focus on a specific, defined community.

• Proposals must describe a specific geo-located community (geographic region such local community, neighborhood, township, municipality).

• The identified community must be inclusive of those who have historically had less power, privilege and/or income, and who have experienced barriers to participating in, or being a part of, community-related problem solving. Priority populations include communities of color, immigrant and refugee communities, people living with disabilities, LGBTQ communities and others dependent on context.

2.       Ensure the program or project is shaped and supported by the identified community.

• There must be evidence that there is a trusting and existing relationship between the applicant organization and identified community members, an understanding of the needs and priorities of the identified community in the request, and that there is a thoughtful and deliberate plan for intentional engagement with the identified community.

• The proposed work should be informed and shaped by the identified community and include buy-in and support from others beyond the applicant organization, such as those most impacted by the work as well as other community partners.

• The identified community, those most impacted, and potential partners should be actively engaged in the work throughout its duration.

3.       Reflect shared roles and responsibilities between the applicant organization and identified community for carrying out the work.

• These efforts should support and strengthen positive, genuine, caring and mutually trusting connections with community members in order to better leverage connections, networks and resources to help address challenges.

• Bringing different types of people from a particular neighborhood together to talk, learn from each other and strengthen bonds. This could happen within and/or across age, gender, racial, and interest groups.
• Bringing community members and leaders together recognizing linguistic or language differences with the purpose of listening and learning from each other about how community issues impact them. Discussions may be focused on bringing everyone together to foster better connections and identify solutions to health challenges.
• Supporting efforts for community members to work together around shared activities, sharing their personal and familial stories, or emphasizing cultural practices not typically recognized. This could include efforts in the arts, hobbies, outdoor/sporting activities or non-verbal sharing opportunities.
• Bringing people together to start or restart a conversation. These gatherings should be inclusive and address community-led opportunities, challenges and/or needs.
• Creating opportunities that help people break down historical barriers between individuals, groups and organizations with a focus on working together better.
• Creating shared goals and taking coordinated actions to ensure all voices are engaged to work on community priorities.
• Supporting community members in developing skills related to working together, connecting with leaders and decision-makers, and/or taking collective action.
• Intentional inclusion of cultural practices, traditions, and arts to foster belonging within the community.

• Groups considered for funding may include community-based organizations (inclusive of informal groups with a fiscal sponsor) and local public agencies working with community members who are living on low income and have historically had less power and/or privilege.
• Priority will be given to proposals that are strongly aligned with the Foundation’s cornerstones and are collectively inclusive and reflective of the contributions of community members.

Funding will not be provided in situations where an organization or group is seeking to enter a community (e.g., planning, pre-assessment, surveys, education), are not able to demonstrate authentic and trusting relationships with community members or bring programming or projects that are not mutually beneficial to all parties.

Awarded groups will agree to participate in learning and evaluation activities.

• Social capital: The networks, norms and trust that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives.
• Community building: Nurturing and utilizing community talent, knowledge and resources to shape the community’s future. Activities, resources and support that strengthen the skills, abilities and confidence of people and community groups to take effective action and leading roles in advancing health equity.
• Asset-based approach: Involves facilitating people, neighborhoods and communities to come together to achieve positive change, which uses and builds upon their existing knowledge, skills and lived experience regarding the issues impacting their community.
• Community: Broadly, the Foundation defines community as 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. Specifically, the Foundation considers the following entities within the definition: individuals, organizations, networks, coalitions, sub-populations, neighborhoods, regions and systems that underlie shared characteristics and interests or locality.