Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles Initiative

The 2025 Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles Initiative is offered by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (Health Fund), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and wellness of Michigan residents, with a particular focus on children and older adults. Through this initiative, the Health Fund seeks to address critical nutrition and lifestyle challenges that negatively impact health outcomes, particularly for Michigan’s children and seniors. The initiative emphasizes that healthy food access and lack of physical activity are key social determinants of health, based on the Healthy People 2030 framework. The 2025 initiative focuses on four strategic areas: food access, food systems, physical activity, and the built environment. Food access projects aim to improve nutrition knowledge, promote healthier behaviors, and address diet-related chronic diseases. Projects addressing food systems focus on local food systems and equitable access to nutritious food, with emphasis on community engagement, environmental sustainability, and workforce development in the food sector. Built environment projects support planning and design of public spaces that promote physical activity, including parks, trails, and playgrounds, while centering community involvement and sustainability. Physical activity projects focus on eliminating barriers to recreation and fitness, particularly for people with disabilities, and increasing inclusive physical activity opportunities. Funding for the 2025 Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles Initiative ranges from $50,000 to $500,000. Applicants may request funding for one or two years, with a maximum award of $500,000. Requests for funding must not exceed 20% of the organization’s annual operating budget. Small organizations may partner with a fiduciary or financial sponsor to meet this requirement. Indirect costs are allowed up to 30% for organizations with annual operating budgets below $10 million and up to 20% for larger organizations. Eligible applicants include nonprofits, federally recognized tribes, local units of government, and the State of Michigan. All applicants must be recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS, serve Michigan residents, have a current certified financial audit or independently reviewed financial statements, and employ at least one full-time staff member. The Health Fund will not fund clinical research, loans, emergency response, capital projects, litigation, lobbying, ongoing operational costs for existing programs, tuition, or organizations that discriminate. The application process begins with the optional submission of a two-page concept paper by March 20, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Concept papers allow applicants to receive initial feedback to strengthen their proposals. Full applications must be submitted online via the Health Fund’s Fluxx portal by May 1, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Award decisions will be announced on September 3, 2025, and funded projects may begin on or after October 1, 2025. Proposals will be evaluated on several criteria, including collaboration, community empowerment, health equity, innovation, long-term impact, measurable outcomes, and alignment with the Health Fund’s mission. All proposals must include a comprehensive evaluation plan that outlines how the project will measure outcomes, including physical activity minutes, changes in fruit and vegetable consumption, behavioral changes, BMI changes, or chronic disease indicators like blood pressure and A1C levels. Evaluation plans should describe project activities, outputs, short- and long-term outcomes, and overall anticipated impact. The Health Fund provides evaluation templates to assist applicants. For more information, applicants can visit the Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles Initiative page on the Health Fund’s website or contact the Health Fund at grants@mihealthfund.org. Applications must be submitted through the Health Fund’s Fluxx portal, and new applicants should request an account at least two business days before the application deadline.