EHF announces $5.3 million commitment to support Texas organizations that are raising community voices to influence health

Episcopal Health Foundation is announcing $5.3 million in new investments to help organizations across Texas work with community members to become advocates for health and adopt new ways of solving health-related problems in their neighborhood. The new funding will support groups working with low-income residents and neighborhoods in need across the state.

“COVID-19 has been a glaring reminder that non-medical factors like economic status and living conditions dramatically influence health,” says Elena Marks, EHF’s president and CEO. “That’s why these investments don’t focus on access to a doctor or hospital. Instead, they’ll help communities develop leaders who advocate for healthy lifestyles and push for solutions that address underlying conditions that contribute to poor health.”

Successful solutions to complex community health challenges require the input of those most affected by the issues. EHF’s new investments will fund a variety of projects in rural and urban areas of Texas including youth leadership development, community organizing, and faith-based efforts that concentrate on health-focused community work.

“These efforts focus on improving the health system by helping community members take charge of their health through advocacy, policy change, and more,” Marks said.

EHF’s $5.3 million investment will fund 20 community-based organizations and/or projects:

• $630,000 to Central Texas Interfaith to develop and expand community clusters located in eight central Texas counties (Bastrop, Bell, Brazos, Burleson, Lee, McClennan, Travis, Williamson) to address a broad range of health disparities through organizing groundwork to improve community health and health equity.

• $630,000 to Gulf Coast Leadership Council to develop and expand community clusters in six southeast Texas counties (Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Jefferson, Orange) that will impact 20 neighborhoods to address a broad range of health disparities through organizing groundwork to improve community health and health equity.
  
  
• $520,000 to Young Invincibles to train young adults to become community leaders through the Young Advocate Program that educates them on policy strategies and advocacy that works to increase health insurance coverage among young Texans.
  
  
• $500,000 to Texas Organizing Project Education Fund in Houston to develop and train community leaders to advocate for health in low-income Black and Latino neighborhoods by addressing underlying, non-medical factors that cause poor health.
  
  
• $400,000 to Go Austin!/Vamos Austin! to deliver neighborhood-based solutions for those most affected by chronic health disparities by focusing on access to healthy food, safe physical activity, civic engagement, and climate resilience.
  
  
• $300,000 to Bastrop County Cares to establish a coalition of congregations to learn about social determinants of health and address community issues that impact health.
  
  
• $250,000 to Baker Ripley in Harris County to build community leadership in Pasadena to develop an action plan to address systemic health issues.
  
  
• $250,000 to Mi Familia Vota in Fort Bend and Harris counties to deepen community organizing, advocacy and youth leadership to improve systemic health issues impacting communities of color.
  
  
• $216,400 to Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) in Harris County to provide health equity leadership training to increase the ability of under-resourced neighborhoods to address health systems change in 13 targeted communities.
  
  
• $201,640 to Houston Health Foundation to strengthen the training of youth leaders by connecting them to established community leaders and resources to improve the social determinants of health.
  
  
• $200,000 to Healthy Futures of Texas to build support for women’s preventive health care and the family planning safety-net in Texas through advocacy.
  
  
• $200,000 to United Way of Waco-McClennan County to increase the engagement of underserved families and create an action plan to address health disparities in Waco.
  
  
• $125,000 to The Immunization Partnership to engage with medical and non-traditional partners to promote immunizations statewide.
  
  
• $175,000 to East Harris County Empowerment to recruit, train, and support two groups of residents across six East Harris County communities to address social determinants of health through leadership and community projects.
  
  
• $150,000 to Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation in Houston to help the Center for Urban Transformation develop a strategic plan to improve community health by addressing the non-medical, underlying causes of poor health in the Fifth Ward.
  
  
• $150,000 to Texas Network of Youth Services to recruit, train, and support a group of youth leaders as they research and advocate for policy change to improve health outcomes statewide.
  
  
• $125,000 to Dallas Area Interfaith to address systemic change in Tyler and Smith County through the initiation of community organizing through a collaboration of interfaith churches.
  
  
• $75,000 to Community Coalition for Health in Travis County to influence systems of care within the Austin Colony neighborhood through recruiting, training, and managing resident health leaders.
  
  
• $30,000 to the Fund for Shared Insight/Listen for Good Program to enable five EHF grantees to participate in ongoing initiative to enhance methods of receiving feedback from their clients.