Wake County Launches Health Innovation Fund to Support Community Organizations with $100,000 Grants

Groups can apply through May 2, 2022

Wake County Health and Human Services has teamed up with the United Way of the Greater Triangle to award five $100,000 grants to community-based organizations working to address health-related disparities and ensure every resident has equal opportunities to improve their well-being and quality of life.

The Community Innovation Fund is part of a $3.8 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded to Wake County’s Live Well Wake program last year to help advance health equity in Wake County.

“These funds are just one more part of our ongoing work to improve the overall health of Wake County through Live Well Wake,” said Sig Hutchinson, chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. “That program has been working to address transportation, employment, mental health, housing and homelessness, and now we have a way to invest in community groups finding innovative ways to address those issues.”

Applicants will have until May 2, 2022, to go onto the United Way application portal and submit their solutions for changing systems in one of the following key areas:

• Access to Health Care – expanding access to health coverage for Wake County residents at highest risk for COVID-19 disparities;
  
  
• Mental Health – reducing stigmas associated with mental health support or expanding access to support for the most vulnerable residents; and
  
  
• Housing – addressing disparities impeding access to safe, affordable housing.
  

Submissions will be reviewed in May, and the five awardees will be notified by May 31. Over the following year, Live Well Wake will work collaboratively with the chosen partners to help collaborate, problem-solve and implement the strategies.