Voices for Healthy Kids, an initiative of the American Heart Association, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), announces the launch of the newVoices for Healthy Kids COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Opportunity. In response to the current environment, we are leveraging our strengths, proven infrastructure and resources to support COVID-19 response and relief efforts to meet the immediate needs as defined by the communities we serve. These grants are targeted at safety net issues most closely related to the Voices for Healthy Kids body of work. Preference will be given to community-based organizations with demonstrated experiences working to build power in communities most impacted by health inequities including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian and Alaskan Native, or children living in families with low-income. Organizations “of community” and with lived experience are strongly encouraged to apply.
These grants will support systems and policy change campaigns that focus on helping those most under-resourced better gain access to health care, healthy food, and income support and stability during this critical time. Voices for Healthy Kids is hopeful that the flexibility offered by these grants will allow states, tribes and communities to use the grant dollars and support to best maximize local opportunity and established relationships to quickly adjust policies and systems to address COVID-19-related needs. For example, an organization may want to address urgent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-related needs in their community and can propose an approach that best addresses those needs during this pandemic time, such as enrollment; or an organization may request funding to alter systems and policies to help schools, food banks and other emergency feeding responses better coordinate and maximize effectiveness and efficiency.
These grants are meant to support policy and systemic changes at the state, tribe or local level. They are not programmatic in scope. (See preliminary menu of policy ideas below.)
Grants are due by Monday at 5 PM PST each week starting on May 4, 2020 through May 25, 2020, or until funding is depleted. Decisions will be made within four (4) weeks. All attempts will be made to speed the response time. Grant Overview
- Funding amount up to $50,000
- Up to 6 months in duration Support policy or systemic change
- Simplified application process
- No prior experience as a Voices for Healthy Kids grantee required
- Applicant must have non-profit status or a non-profit fiscal agent
- Focus on the needs of communities must impacted by health inequities
Eligible policy areas include supporting:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant, Children (WIC)
- School foods
- Food purchasing/procurement policy/systems to expand access to healthy foods or maximize purchasing power to reach the most vulnerable
- Medicaid, such as waivers, expansion, increasing/easing enrollment
- Early Childhood Education, Head Start and Early Head Start
- Other policy critical to income support, such as unemployment insurance
Types of policy/systems change could include:
- State, Tribal or local policies
- State or Tribal applications/requests to the federal government for waivers
- Implementation of new federal benefits
- Coordination of systems of service particularly to help with food access
- Mandating that COVID-19 relief extends through the duration of the recession rather than being tied to a specific date
Voices for Healthy Kids grant utilizes an online application process. All applications will need to be submitted through this online system.
The first step is to register to be able to view full details and the application.
Please follow these simple steps to register:
- Visit https://voicesforhealthykids.fluxx.io and in the lower right-hand side of the webpage, click the create account now button.
- Be sure to use Google Chrome as this site does not work with Internet Explorer.
- Complete the eligibility quiz.
- If your organization is eligible you will then complete a registration form.
- Once submitted, your registration will be reviewed and approved within 24 hours.
Voices for Healthy Kids staff are available for any questions at voicesforhealthykids@heart.org.
We want to thank our Strategic Advisory Committee (SAC) for helping think through the best role that Voices for Healthy Kids could play and how we could add value and continue to impact health equity during this pandemic. We were able to quickly adapt our program of work because many of our policy priorities are directly related to the safety net. It was also clear that each community is facing different threats and opportunities and that the communities need to guide how these dollars are most needed on the ground.