The Colorado Springs Health Foundation Grant Program focuses on promoting healthy environments within high-need or underserved communities in El Paso and/or Teller Counties, Colorado. This aligns with the Foundation's mission to invest exclusively in efforts that encourage greater physical activity, increase access to healthy, affordable food, and increase or maintain/retain transitional or permanent affordable housing. The program aims to support organizations that are tax-exempt (501(c)3), operating under fiscal agency, or tax-supported entities like schools or local government, directly serving the specified counties.
The target beneficiaries are individuals and families residing in high-need or underserved communities within El Paso and Teller Counties. The impact goals are to improve public health outcomes by fostering environments that support healthy living. This includes ensuring residents have access to nutritious food, opportunities for physical activity, and stable, affordable housing. The program explicitly excludes emergency shelter and emergency rent/mortgage requests, focusing instead on long-term, systemic solutions.
The grant program's priorities and focus areas are strictly defined around healthy environments. This encompasses initiatives such as home improvement, weatherization, and energy efficiency to maintain affordable housing, as well as efforts to connect people with transitional or permanent affordable housing through case management, resource coordination, navigation, and support. Additionally, programs designed to increase access to healthy, affordable food and encourage greater physical activity are central to the Foundation's strategic objectives.
Expected outcomes include a reduction in housing instability, improved access to nutritious food options, and an increase in community engagement in physical activities. While specific measurable results are not explicitly detailed in the provided text, the focus on "healthy environments" suggests that successful projects will demonstrate tangible improvements in the living conditions and health behaviors of the targeted communities. The grant duration is typically one year, indicating an expectation of demonstrable progress within that timeframe.
The Foundation's strategic priorities are deeply rooted in a theory of change that posits that by addressing the foundational elements of a healthy environment—namely, housing, food, and physical activity—they can significantly improve the overall well-being and health equity of underserved populations. This focused approach is designed to create lasting positive change by investing in programs that build community resilience and support sustainable healthy living practices, rather than providing short-term aid for immediate crises.
