Grant Partners

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition

Year: 2022 *Multi-year Grant: 2021
Amount:$66,300
Boston

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) is the largest coalition organization in New England advocating for the rights and integration of the over 1.2 million foreign-born residents of Massachusetts. MIRA will secure funding for services and outreach to immigrants, state housing assistance programs, and other crucial programs for immigrant health and wellbeing.   Additionally, it will seek to end deep racial disparities in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout in MA. MIRA provides the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition with ongoing communications services, including the regular release of up-to-date developments in six languages for dissemination to the Commonwealth's immigrant communities and beyond.

Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery - Fiscal Sponsor - Bay State Community Services, Inc.

Year: 2022 *Multi-year Grant: 2021
Amount:$61,200
Boston

The Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery (MOAR) educates the public about the value of addiction recovery. The organization’s central concerns are to reduce: the social stigma of addiction; the shortage of timely treatment to promote recovery and reduce overdose risk; the lack of long-term treatment; and the disproportionate effects of addiction on populations such as veterans, pregnant women, non-English speakers, communities of color, and recently incarcerated people. MOAR will advocate for low threshold (non-abstinence) housing and for improved substance use disorder (SUD) treatment access via deaf-friendly mobile and outpatient services. MOAR will also convene information and strategy meetings with Black, Indigenous, and people of color populations to inform advocacy and policy priorities and educate policymakers about fidelity to peer principles, which is integral to the revised recovery coach licensure proposal. 

Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, Inc.

Year: 2022 *Multi-year Grant: 2021
Amount:$76,500
Boston

Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH) focuses on expanding access to effective treatment and services, reducing stigma and discrimination, and addressing behavioral health services disparities.  It is a critical partner in both the area of social determinants of health and health care reform as a convener, technical adviser, and coalition leader.  MAMH will continue to inform the implementation of the Executive Office of Health and Human Service's Roadmap for Behavioral Health Reform and the Strategic Design Work Group for MassHealth's 1115 waiver renewal. It will also advocate for the implementation of behavioral health parity laws; and educate and engage stakeholders around the need to expand access to timely, comprehensive, community-based, and culturally and linguistically responsive services.  In addition, MAMH will continue to engage communities of color in the content and user experience of Network of Care Massachusetts' Culturally Responsive Behavioral Health Information Hub and expand its partnership with the Urban League to tackle disparities. 

Massachusetts Public Health Association

Year: 2021 *Multi-year Grant: 2022
Amount:$60,000
Boston

The Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) promotes a healthy Massachusetts through advocacy, community organizing, and coalition building. MPHA works with community groups, state policy organizations, health care institutions, state agencies, and others to identify community health challenges, design policy solutions, and advocate for action.  It will advocate to improve and invest in our local public health system so that local public health departments can meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.   It will organize to win inclusion of Alliance for Community Health Integration recommendations in the next 1115 waiver and advance a suite of housing and transportation policy reforms, including protections for renters and working-class homeowners, investments in public transit, and stronger accountability for air quality improvements. 

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Year: 2021 *Multi-year Grant: 2022
Amount:$75,000
Boston

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.