Michigan Health Endowment Fund

The Health Fund's Community Health Impact (CHI) Initiative supports projects that engage communities and incorporate their voices in health solutions designed to serve them. As we head into our second CHI funding cycle for 2024, our recent blog — developed with our evaluation partners at Delaney Data Empowerment — looks at projects supported through the initiative that have done this well:

Direct Care Workers (DCWs) play a critical role in the health of our state by providing long-term care services to older adults, people with disabilities, and others. The professions in this field have some of the highest shortage levels and turnover rates of all health care workers in Michigan, creating significant barriers for many individuals and families who need these services.    The Health Fund continues to invest in approaches to stabilize and support the DCW workforce. To help frame the DCW landscape statewide, our partners at the Center for Health and Research Transformation (CHRT) have developed a new legislative briefing, which highlights important data insights and presents potential policy solutions tied to compensation, benefits, career advancement, and more. Read the briefing:

The Lake Superior Community Partnership assisted Partridge Creek Farm with a ribbon cutting to celebrate their grand opening in Ishpeming. This ribbon cutting is in celebration of the completion of the Farm Cooler, that the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, the Community Foundation of Marquette County, Enbridge, West End Health Foundation, and the USDA all helped to fund. This cooler will be used for storage of produce grown on the Intergeneration Farm.

Supporting cross-sector partnerships that drive progress on health issues is the foundation of our Collaborative Capacity Building grant program, but we recognize health leaders can benefit from guidance on how to best join forces. That's why we engaged Healthy Places by Design to offer a training called Collaboration Lab to a cohort of Health Fund grantees. In our latest blog post, guest authors Phil Bors and Jamie Elliott from Healthy Places by Design share how this training impacts partnerships and offer resources and practices to strengthen collaboration:

From universal free school meals to grant funding for locally grown foods, Michigan has made strides in meeting the nutritional needs of children through its school food systems. Our latest blog takes stock of some significant recent developments in the school food environment and explores opportunities to further strengthen healthy food access, quality, and equity for all Michigan kids:

The Health Fund provides a range of free capacity building resources to health-focused nonprofits in Michigan, including Catchafire — a platform that helps organizations link up with skilled volunteer talent at no cost. On June 24, we're offering a new Catchafire Accelerator Workshop. This 90-minute training will help nonprofits think about their capacity challenges and explore ways to leverage Catchafire to find skilled volunteers who can assist in developing solutions. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/g2yfvsMC

Our partners at Generations United have created a new framework for working with Michigan colleges and universities to build intergenerational connections between students and older adults — all with an aim to foster empathy, share expertise across generations, and combat ageism, particularly among future health care professionals. The Health Fund is excited to join GU’s webinar on June 11 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., when they’ll share new resources and highlight examples, practices, and challenges for deepening intergenerational learning. Hope you’ll join us: https://lnkd.in/eBCkpEgR

Many older adults and their caregivers could benefit from Area Agencies on Aging, State Health Insurance Assistance Programs, and other options for long-term services and supports. One challenge: a lack of awareness about available supports could be preventing many from accessing the help they need. The latest poll extra from the Michigan Poll on Healthy Aging shows our state is doing better in awareness of these resources than the nation as a whole, but also points out where we can improve:

Throughout the school year, students, teachers, and staff at Whitmore Lake Elementary School have been using a research-based exercise program developed by the University of Michigan to get their school community moving.   The Interrupting Prolonged sitting with ACTivity (InPACT) program was created by Dr. Rebecca Hasson and supported by the Health Fund. It incorporates a series of brief, flexible, age-appropriate — and most importantly, fun — exercise breaks into the school day to help children increase their movement and raise their heart rates, without disrupting the classroom flow. Teachers and administrators in Whitmore Lake credited the program for enhancing the learning environment by helping kids stay focused, contributing to a reduction in behavior management incidents, and supporting better health for all in the building.

A significant recent increase in mental illness and suicidality among young people is one of the alarming behavioral health challenges we face. Supported by a Health Fund grant, Corewell Health's School Blue Envelope program is a powerful tool that has trained more than 15,500 Michigan educators and school staff to identify, screen, and support students facing a behavioral health crisis. Read our latest blog to learn how this innovative program is making a difference: