FY2024 Healthy Communities Fund

The Asian American Health Initiative has determined that sustained funding is needed to facilitate community-based organizations (CBOs) and faith-based organizations (FBOs) providing linguistically and culturally appropriate services to the diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Montgomery County, Maryland. The Asian American Health Initiative has launched Healthy Communities Fund to accomplish this goal. In partnership with the Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County Maryland Inc. (PCC), AAHI and PCC seek to fund programs in behavioral health, senior wellness, and health & social support services.

The Healthy Communities Fund solicited applications from eligible organizations to provide health services to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Montgomery County Maryland. The solicitation was from August 23, 2022 to October 2, 2022. Applicants can provide services in 3 funding categories: behavioral health, senior wellness, and health & social support services. Community organizations of all sizes were encouraged to apply as there is no minimum award amount to apply.

After a competitive application and review process, Montgomery County’s Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI) announced awards to 15 local organizations totaling over $1.5 million. The funding will be used to develop new and sustain existing culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and services in behavioral health, senior wellness and health and social support services for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

AAPI communities are very diverse and have unique challenges collectively and individually. With 15 different Asian American subgroups in the community, and unique needs in each subgroup, programing must be tailored for each subgroup with consideration to the language and culture of the population being served.

“These grant funds will help strengthen safety net services to achieve better health and wellness outcomes for residents in our AAPI communities,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “We saw great success during our inaugural grant process last year and I congratulate the groups who received funding this year. Serving diverse communities is best done by grassroots organizations that operate in the community and the Healthy Communities Fund will help these organizations build greater capacity to serve our AAPI communities.”

Recognizing the need for tailored services and outreach, AAHI partnered with the Primary Care Coalition (PCC) of Montgomery County, to administer the Healthy Communities Fund for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Through a competitive grants process, AAHI and PCC requested proposals from eligible organizations to provide behavioral health, senior wellness and health and social support services for the AAPI communities.

A total of 23 proposals were submitted requesting more than $2.2 million. 15 programs, including six new organizations, received funding to provide services from Sept. 11, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

The following organizations are FY24 Healthy Communities Fund recipients:

Organization (alphabetical order)	Award Amount
American Diversity Group (ADG)	$129,136
American Muslim Senior Society (AMSS)	$128,316
Asian American LEAD (AALEAD)	$64,801
Chinese American Community Health Services (CACHS)	$131,351
Chinese American Parents Association of Montgomery County Maryland	$42,900*
Chinese Culture and Community Service Center, (CCACC)	$118,723
Hepatitis B Initiative of Washington DC	$140,820*
IMAAM Center	$112,683*
Korean Community Service Center of Greater Washington (KCSC)	$144,761
Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association (MVMA)	$148,495
Older Adults Technology Services	$120,000*
September House MAJ	$7,200*
The Senior Connection of Montgomery County	$75,043*
Vietnamese American Services (VAS)	$149,998

*newly funded organizations

The Press Release can be found here: https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail.aspx?Item_ID=44203

AWARD CATEGORIES

The Healthy Communities Fund seeks to ensure that the fund is equitable and accessible to all organizations regardless of size, capacity, and years of service. Applicants can apply for funding in one award category. Award categories are not ranked by order of importance, do not have maximum or minimum awards to be distributed, and will not be evaluated differently. The same proposal evaluation criteria will be used. However, due to the different levels of funding, the application requirements are different. Organizations are encouraged to select a category and request amounts that are best suited to the organizational capacity and fiscal capability.

MORE THAN $50,000

The budget submitted and the amount requested must exceed $50,000.

$50,000 OR LESS

The budget submitted and the amount requested must be $50,000 or less.

FUNDING CATEGORIES

All proposed programs must address one of the funding categories and the corresponding outcome statements listed below.

Organizations can select no more than 2 funding categories in their proposal.
Funding categories are not ranked by order of importance and the number of funding categories selected by an applicant does not affect points.
These funding categories are for the direct benefit of the AAPI communities and residents.
Service examples are just examples. Thus, organizations are encouraged to propose services, within the described funding categories, that can best address the specific needs of the communities they serve.

Health & Social Support Services

Outcome Statement

Provide linguistically accessible and culturally appropriate services that improve health and/or enhance access to health or social support services

Service Examples

Chronic illness self-management programs.
Culturally responsive food assistance efforts such as community food pantries, food distributions, or hot meals distributions
Programs aimed at improving cultural responsiveness/awareness of healthcare professionals

Mental/Behavioral Health

Outcome Statement

Reduce stigma around seeking mental health services and encourage people to seek treatment

Service Examples

Programs aimed at diversifying the mental health workforce
Providing counseling services in common Asian languages
Programs that focus on youth suicide prevention

Senior Wellness

Outcome Statement

Provide linguistically accessible information and social support to AAPI seniors

Service Examples

Programs addressing social isolation and loneliness among Asian American seniors
Conducting workforce development among AAPI to provide senior wellness services
Culturally specific AAPI Adult Day Centers

The following types of services are not eligible for an award through Healthy Communities Fund:

Social media programs – programs or services that operate on and/or primarily engage social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, WeChat, IMO, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc.
Online content production and distribution – distribution can have an online component but not solely online.
Religious events or celebrations – religious events can be used to provide services, but funding cannot be used to solely pay for religious events or celebrations.
Cultural events or celebrations – cultural events can be used to provide services, but funding cannot be solely used to pay for cultural events or celebrations.
Political events or celebrations.
Services that do not capture and report the age, race, gender, and zip-code of clients served.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for a grant award under this program the applicant organization must:

Be a nonprofit corporation with either 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status.
Provide services to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in Montgomery County, Maryland. Applicants may be located in other jurisdictions, but the proposed program(s) must serve residents of Montgomery County, Maryland only.
Be registered and in good standing with the State of Maryland or adjacent jurisdiction. Have all appropriate licenses and insurance consistent with the Primary Care Coalition terms and conditions.
Have been continuously delivering one or more culturally and linguistically competent services to ethnically and economically diverse AAPI communities in Montgomery County, Maryland since July 1, 2021.
Have the ability and capacity to provide services throughout the term of the grant period which ends June 30, 2024.
Have an established or the ability to establish a mechanism to collect and report on client data such as age, race, gender, zip code, and more.

NOTE: The programs and services provided under this grant must not be funded by another agency (county, state, federal, for-profit, or nonprofit).

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants should visit this website to access the application.

New applicants must “Create New Account” to access the application.
Current HCF grantees and previous HCF applicants can log in with their existing credentials and click on the “Apply” tab to access the application.
All applications must be submitted on the portal by 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, July 31, 2023.
Organizations may reach out to AAHI@montgomerycountymd.govfor assistance in the application process.
Incomplete applications will not be reviewed or considered for an award.
Applicants can also get assistance with composing their applications by registering for free strategic consultations. These appointments are available on first-come, first-served basis. (See Strategy Consultations section below).

PROGRAM TIMELINE

The grant period for AAHI Healthy Communities Fund will be from September 11, 2023, to June 30, 2024.

Key Dates:

RFP publication date: June 23, 2023
Applications open: June 23, 2023
Strategy Consultations are available on a first-come, first-served basis by registering here.
Informational Workshop: June 29, 2023, from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM ET. Click here to review the presentation. The FAQ document was also updated based on the questions asked.
Proposal due date: 11:59 PM on July 31, 2023
Public announcement of awards: September 8, 2023
Program start: September 11, 2023
Grantee Onboarding: September 11, 2023 to October 11, 2023
Progress Reports: Progress reports will be due by the 5^th of every other month (for funding requests over $50,000) or by the 10^th of every other month (for funding requests under $50,000).
Program end: June 30, 2024
Final report due date: July 15, 2024

DISBURSEMENT SCHEDULE

Successful applicants will receive funds based on the following schedule:

1^st Installment: September 30, 2023
2^nd Installment: February 15, 2023

Timely disbursement of the 1^st installment will depend on the organization providing accurate accounting details by September 11, 2023. Timely disbursement of the 2^nd installment will depend on providing accurate accounting details AND satisfactory submission of reports and progress towards objectives.

STRATEGY CONSULTATIONS

To ensure equitable access to funding, and to support AAPI-serving organizations in developing successful programs and writing compelling grants, AAHI is offering grant writing and program development consultations through Community Development Professionals, LLC to forty (40) AAPI-serving organizations during the grant application period. This one-on-one technical assistance is provided on a first-come, first-served basis.

Organizations will have access to two 90-minute self-paced workshops after registration. Upon completing the 2 workshops, the organization may schedule one 60-minute consultation with a grant writing expert.

Organizations must register to avail this benefit on a first-come, first-served basis.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

FY23 Healthy Communities Fund

FY24 Request for Proposal PDF

FY24 HCF FAQ (Updated 7/3/23)

FY24 Budget Request Template

FY2024 Program Reporting Template

Informational Workshop Presentation

Optional Survey - Customer Satisfaction

Optional Survey - Health Education Workshop