Grant Partners

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) represents individual clients and works in coalition with other organizations that have consumers as their members.  Through these relationships, MLRI enriches its understanding of systemic issues and enlists additional individuals and organizations to advocate for access to quality health care, immigrant health care rights, and issues of importance to individuals with disabilities.  MLRI will assure that unwinding the COVID-19 protection in 2022 does not result in eligible individuals losing benefits. It will also advocate for MassHealth to retain flexibilities in place during COVID-19 after the Public Health Emergency ends. At the same time, MLRI will be advocating for expanded eligibility for criminal-justice-involved individuals before release, and other expansions of current coverage. Additionally, MLRI will address barriers to coverage and care for the remaining uninsured and will work on expanding coverage options for non-citizens, including undocumented children and pregnant women.

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) is committed to supporting patients with enrollment and retention of the full health benefits for which they are eligible. Its team educates patients on how to use health coverage, understand covered services, retain benefits, and remain engaged in preventive care, reducing dependence on emergency room visits. BHCHP will ensure that patients across its 40+ clinics and on the street have access to this support. During the grant year, it will expand its health insurance outreach and enrollment activities to new locations, including at Horizons for Homeless Children, Women’s Lunch Place, and through increased outreach services, focusing on a sharply growing number of people living on the street. BHCHP will focus on addressing the churn experienced by people who are incarcerated and will advocate for expanded coverage for this population and others with access needs. It will also prioritize patient access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), along with other health related social needs.

Lahey Health Behavioral Services will continue implementation of telemedicine for psychiatric prescribing and consultation to its Urgent Care Clinic; initiate medication-assisted treatment (MAT) via telepsychiatry; and implement a crisis management program to facilitate communication among members of an individual’s care team. 

Funding to evaluate the effectiveness of the club’s health and fitness offerings and to ensure that its programming meets the post-pandemic needs of its community.

This grant was made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Joint Committee for Children’s Health Care in Everett (JCCHC) assists clients, mainly from immigrant, multilingual, and multicultural backgrounds, to understand and enroll in health insurance coverage and how to access health care services. It provides consistent, culturally and linguistically appropriate information on health insurance. Once clients have coverage, the JCCHC works to assist them select culturally appropriate primary care providers and assists clients in making an initial appointment. During the grant year, JCCHC will conduct outreach and host events for clients in places where they frequent, attending community events, fairs, health care forums, service agencies, ethnic small businesses, food pantries, libraries, parks, and places of worship. JCCHC will also assist clients with WIC and SNAP applications as requested.

Quincy Asian Resources, Inc. (QARI) In partnership with Walker Therapeutic and Educational Programs (Walker), will offer a series of fun educational group activities for middle and high school students in the Quincy Public Schools (QPS) and a set of educational workshops for their parents or caregivers. This new program called “Getting the Teens Out” (GTTO) is born out of QARI’s overarching strategy to bring together QARI's linguistic and cultural competence with Walker's mental health expertise to benefit teen immigrant clients.

Plummer Youth Promise (PYP) will measure the impact of its evaluation practices to ensure that they incorporate dismantling injustices faced by marginalized populations. PYP will ensure that its evaluation practices collect demographic data in respectful ways, assess for discrimination-related trauma, document barriers to care, and report outcomes and identify other best practices.

Funding to develop, launch, and grow its new website, a critical tool to raise awareness of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders and better serve new parent mental health needs during COVID and beyond.

Funding to support increased demand for its services due to the pandemic, including for food access and for application assistance for health insurance, unemployment, and low-income housing.

This grant was made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding to partner with health and community-based organizations to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine for African immigrants in Greater Boston, Lowell, and Worcester through messaging designed to increase vaccine confidence.

This grant was made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ecu-Health Care (EHC) helps uninsured and underinsured residents of North Berkshire access health care. EHC provides individuals with assistance with new health insurance applications, renewals, redeterminations, and plan renewals. During the grant year, it will conduct outreach in collaboration with partners, including Berkshire Area Support, to support immigrants, and other populations in accessing and maintaining health insurance coverage. It also works to support clients with SNAP applications.

The Heart of a Giant Foundation (HGF) will test a community-based, culturally responsive care model which will address the social determinants of health experienced by Black and marginalized families and individuals in the Dorchester and Mattapan areas, with the goal of managing and preventing hypertension outside the clinical setting. The program will provide comprehensive health care support, health education and coaching, and will incorporate digital health technologies and remote health monitoring. The one-year pilot will provide nursing and medical services, healthy behaviors and lifestyle supports, community engagement activities, and mental health services to support patients in their journey toward emotional wellbeing and health lifestyles in a holistic way.

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Inc.  (BCNC) will support two staff members to attain their certification as Mental Health First Aid trainers. These BCNC staff will then facilitate a series of mental health first aid training to other staff and youth, adults, and caregivers.  This initiative will enable BCNC staff to become more attuned and better equipped to serve participants struggling with mental health issues. Ultimately Chinese immigrant youth, adults, and families will have increased access to culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services.

Funding to hire a consultant to conduct an assessment of its clinic space to determine its current and future space requirements, including the potential for growth in the longer term.

The Somali Development Center helps to develop the capacity of individuals and families to be self-sufficient through educational and social services. The program will equip the Somali Development Center to catalyze a new stage of growth by enhancing capacity to build campaigns and advocacy tools to advance racial justice in health. It will focus on the importance of oral health for refugees – working towards cross-cultural and patient centered health care.