Local Nonprofits Receive $2 Million To Boost Equitable Access To Care – Three Arches Foundation Announces 2024 Grants

Three Arches Foundation, a community-focused grant making foundation, announced $2 million in funding toward grants to twenty-two local nonprofit organizations working to address barriers to health care. Each grant reflects the Foundation’s priority focus on equitable access to behavioral and physical health care faced by communities and populations most impacted by health disparities.

This year’s grants address a diversity of needs accomplished through the expansion of existing programs and services, funding of new initiatives, and support of general operations. “These grants reflect a multitude of approaches that strengthen important systems of support in our communities in order to meet the respective needs of those who often face challenges in accessing essential health care,” shared Kristin Broadbent, president and CEO of the Foundation. “From partnering with organizations that embrace a culturally centered care approach to funding programs that utilize trauma-informed care to promote healing, to supporting preventive and wrap-around behavioral health services, this work is designed to boost health equity.”

“We’re proud to support our 2024 grant recipients who recognize and understand barriers to access that make managing care difficult for individuals and families impacted by health disparities,” comments Gina Gavlak, board chair of the Foundation. “Together, these investments help fill gaps that exist within the health care landscape.”

In addition to this year’s recipients, four nonprofit partners will begin year two of their multi-year grant awarded last year. These include Colors+, In Harmony Therapeutic ServicesLifeAct, and Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center. The Foundation also contributed to and continues its participation in the Greater Cleveland Funder’s Collaborative.

Highlights of 2024 grants approved by the Foundation’s board of directors include:

B. Riley Sober House – $61,250 for the addition of a part-time psychiatrist and full-time Licensed Independent Social Worker to the staff which represent a new component in providing onsite comprehensive mental health counseling, improved substance use disorder counseling, and integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders.

Bellefaire JCB – $228,647 to sustain access to vital behavioral health consultation and critical trauma-informed prevention services for students, families, and staff in seven Lakewood City Schools through Bellefaire’s School-Based Counseling program.

Birthing Beautiful Communities – $25,000 to provide Perinatal Support Doulas at no cost to predominately Black expectant and new mothers in TAF’s geographic focus to help ensure a healthy pregnancy and postpartum experience.

Cleveland Rape Crisis Center – $80,000 to fund the Access to Care program that provides support and information to survivors of rape, sexual abuse, and human trafficking through the crisis hotline and during face-to-face hospital interactions, with the majority of those visits occurring within TAF’s geographic area.

Eliza Jennings Home – $150,000 – unrestricted funding to overcome current barriers to long-term care, enhance essential services, and increase its skilled workforce to ensure medically and economically fragile adults on the west side of Cleveland have access to the high-quality, compassionate care they need. With a shared interest in supporting cognitive function in older adults, this grant is funded through the generosity of Three Arches Foundation’s Harold C. Schott Foundation Endowment Fund.

GiGi’s Playhouse Cleveland – $60,055 to sustain and enhance the Amina Grace Speech & Language research-driven program that provides individuals with Down syndrome who are predisposed to low muscle tone and cognitive delays with expanded opportunities to evolve and refine their speech and language skills.

Hispanic UMADAOP – $30,000 renewed operating support of culturally sensitive holistic prevention education, harm reduction, client-centered treatment, and re-entry programs.

Journey Center for Safety and Healing – $75,000 toward Journey’s Trauma Services program tailored to meet the unique needs of individuals from Lakewood and surrounding communities with a history of trauma caused by exposure to domestic violence and/or child abuse.

May Dugan Center – $81,728 continued support of May Dugan Center’s Trauma-Informed Music Therapy program that provides all individuals, regardless of insurance status or inability to pay, with comprehensive culturally competent mental health treatment through funding of an in-house music therapist.

Neighborhood Family Practice – $120,000 operating support of NFP’s work to remove barriers that hinder access to primary care, behavioral health, midwifery, dental, HIV, and pharmacy initiatives for historically marginalized populations. 

OhioGuidestone – $112,577 renewed funding to provide extensive mental health wraparound services for students, families, and staff at four elementary schools in the Lakewood City School District.

Partnership for Good Health – $50,000 for a Certified Community Health Worker who helps newcomer clients gain equitable access to health care by carrying out navigation, coordination, and health education activities with a shared common language and cultural understanding.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio – $81,000 to maintain stable and affordable access to all FDA-approved forms of contraception and birth control services for patients with low incomes who benefit from this care at the Rocky River health center. 

Recovery Resources – $120,000 unrestricted funding to support work that breaks down barriers for people struggling with mental health and substance use disorder through a community-based approach focused on all aspects of health which is vital to managing and sustaining recovery.

Renee Jones Empowerment Center – $124,200 (over two years) continued investment for the work of a nurse, vital to the delivery of free, basic screening and needs assessment for individuals and families in underserved and high-risk neighborhoods at the medical clinic and during street outreach.

Re:Source Cleveland – $84,240 to proactively support the mental and physical health of newcomer youth and their families by providing access to individualized and wrap-around services that are culturally and linguistically familiar, appropriate, and sensitive through the ongoing work of the Healthy Pathway’s coach and addition of youth specialists.

Signature Health – $71,000 to continue patient navigation and transportation services for high-risk patients in Lakewood and surrounding communities.

Smart Development – $60,000 to help refugees and immigrants understand and navigate the local health care system by bridging cultural and linguistic gaps through the work of a health and wellness team comprised of a social worker, case manager, and community navigator.

Spanish American Committee – $50,000 to support the Spanish American Committee’s Licensed Independent Social Worker and Licensed Social Worker who provide counseling and case management services to the Latino/Hispanic Community as part of the Families First program.

The Centers – $120,000 operating funds to support The Centers’ integrated approach to providing services in a way that addresses foundational health and wellness needs and connects individuals and families to a full continuum of offerings.

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation – $120,000 to extend equitable access to care for Lakewood adolescents with funding for well-established youth mental health navigator services, ongoing psychological research support, and the addition of a psychiatric nurse to assist with services and help pilot chemical dependency and eating disorder support coordination that addresses an unmet need within the student population.

Urban Community School – $75,000 continued support for the Director of Mental Health and Counseling Services position who is vital in the guidance and operations of the school’s unique medical model of mental health counseling services, as well as the addition of two innovative school-based mental health technologies to enhance the comprehensive support system.

For additional details about these grants, please visit www.threearchesfoundation.org/grants-awarded

About Three Arches Foundation (TAF) – Three Arches Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that invests in advancing the health and well-being of the people of Lakewood and surrounding communities through grant making. By connecting people, ideas and resources, the Three Arches Foundation fosters a collaborative approach towards investing in organizations whose work directly addresses the continuum of physical and behavioral health issues. For more information, visit threearchesfoundation.org.

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