Grant Program: Community Impact Grant

This project, led by Community Advocates, Inc., aimed to improve health and reduce the inequities within Wisconsin that are driven and reinforced by poor housing conditions. In Milwaukee, over 28,000 rental units were deemed moderately to severely inadequate to live in and nearly 16,000 adults and children face eviction each year. Disparities exist as women and people of color are over 50 percent more likely to be evicted than men or white individuals. The lack of quality, stable and affordable housing leads to poor health outcomes. In collaboration with Human Impact Partners, the project conducted a modified Health Impact Assessment (HIA), leading to the publication of the “Home Is Where Our Health Is” report with policy recommendations. The formation of the Healthy Housing Initiative’s Housing Advisory Council facilitated stakeholder engagement and contributed to the establishment of the Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center. The center’s triage team provided diverse services and resources to over 2,300 households in six months. Finally, a website was launched and garnered substantial engagement, with over 158,000 visitors since its launch in December 2020.

Oneida Nation will develop a model of programming that promotes food sovereignty and cultural identity among Indigenous communities as a comprehensive approach to reducing health disparities and improving health and healthcare. Dr. Bret Benally Thompson, a clinical assistant professor in the SMPH Department of Medicine and advisory council member of the SMPH’s Native American Center for Health Professions, serves at the academic partner.

Farmers are an occupational group with one of the highest rates of death by suicide- as much as two and half times the rate of the general population. To impact the number of farmers experiencing mental health distress and prevent farmer suicides, this project, Farm Well Wisconsin, aims to develop a comprehensive range of upstream interventions to create an ecosystem of support to foster farmer resilience. In its two first years, Farm Well has trained more than 700 rural community members and agribusiness professionals in peer support and suicide prevention, expanded their social media reach 10-fold and conducted training for more than 75 health providers, residents and medical students. Farm Well staff members have also been asked to join statewide coalitions and steering committees related to farmer mental health and rural suicide prevention.

The FREE Campaign seeks to improve health outcomes for formerly incarcerated women and their families by increasing access to safe, stable and supportive housing and resources to support successful recovery and reentry. The team will employ various approaches including transitional and reentry housing coordination in Milwaukee, Madison and the Chippewa Valley to achieve its goals. The FREE Campaign is an initiative within EXPO (Ex-incarcerated People Organizing), led by criminal justice-impacted women; EXPO is an affiliate of WISDOM, a faith-based community organization in Wisconsin. Lori DiPrete Brown, UW–Madison School of Human Ecology serves as the academic partner.

Through its grant, Thriving Wisconsin (previously Supporting Families Together Association (SFTA)) and its grant partners focused on improving health outcomes by implementing a tiered model of consultation services delivered by quality coaches and infant mental health (IMH) consultants to address disparities in rates of expulsion among young children in Wisconsin. Beyond direct services, the initiative aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this tiered model in both urban (Milwaukee) and rural (Western Wisconsin) settings, with the goal of informing policy and system-level changes.

This grant ended on July 12, 2024. Lead exposure in children causes serious, adverse health outcomes including brain and nervous system damage and interference with growth, development, learning, behavior, hearing and speech. Racial inequities in lead poisoning persist in Wisconsin as African American children were lead poisoned at 3.5 times the rate of non-Hispanic white children. This project aims to reduce childhood lead poisoning and prenatal exposure to lead and advance health equity through three goals.

This project, Social Service Redesign, led by Sixteenth Street Community Health Center (SSCHC) aimed to improve health outcomes by reducing housing insecurity. SSCHC is Milwaukee’s largest Federally Qualified Health Center and has been addressing the health needs of economically disadvantaged individuals, many of whom face housing issues and homelessness.

This project, Race to Equity Wisconsin, led by Kids Forward Inc. aimed to address racial and ethnic inequities in Wisconsin that were revealed in the 2013 Race to Equity Report. The report revealed that while white individuals in Wisconsin generally fare better than the national average, Black individuals and other communities of color in the state experience lower levels of well-being. This was particularly evident in areas like high school graduation rates, employment and incarceration statistics. The report underscored the need for collective action to address racial equity challenges and foster results-driven change. Kids Forward successfully replicated the Race to Equity model in Rock County, released a comprehensive report addressing disparities and initiated the development of the toolkit for other communities to replicate the model. Over 50 community meetings were conducted, and partnerships were established with Black, Latiné, Asian and ally-led organizations. The project also contributed to internal, local and state policy reforms and recommendations.

This project, led by YWCA Madison, Inc., aims to support citizens returning to their communities post-incarceration by providing technology skills, employment training and networking opportunities critical for achieving economic stability while fostering healing and dignity. Investing in individuals to create positive change in their lives and the lives of their families is at the heart of this effort. Providing access to long-term earning potential and career growth opportunities while addressing the diversity gap in the tech industry by helping to provide qualified candidates to area employers is a critical component of this grant. According to Healthpeople.gov, men and women with a history of incarceration are worse in mental and physical health than the general population. The added hardship and adversity created by COVID-19 and the country’s health crisis of racism adds to their health challenges. This grant will work to improve health and health equity for returning citizens by providing support as they transition to life back in their communities. The initiative will engage returning citizens in the YWeb training program, and incorporate restorative justice into its approach and process, to help support and heal individuals and families.

Marinette County (MC) is ranked among the least healthy counties in Wisconsin. The opioid-related hospital admission rate is higher in MC than the Northeast Wisconsin regional rate. Individuals with substance use disorders who are in recovery often have difficulty obtaining and maintaining employment due to gaps in work history, education, and lack of structure and support. This project aims to support individuals in recovery, as well as their employers, by connecting individuals with sustainable employment.