GRAND JUNCTION, Colorado – Rocky Mountain Health Foundation has awarded Focus Area Fund grants totaling $1,959,500 to health-related organizations on the Western Slope. The RMHF board of directors approved awards to 102 organizations from 16 Western Slope counties, in amounts ranging from $10,000 to $40,000. Forty-eight percent of the grants went to basic needs programs helping to ensure that individuals and families are housed, have access to transportation, feel safe, and do not go hungry. Programs that help people access affordable, quality physical and behavioral healthcare and disability services accounted for 52% of the grants.
Focus Area Fund grant recipient Mona Highline, Executive Director of The Joseph Project in Mesa County, wrote “We are truly grateful for this funding that will further our mission of helping families and individuals rewrite their life stories during a critical time.”
Multi-year, general operating grants were awarded in the following categories:
Direct Healthcare Services (Renewals, year 2 of 3 yr grants)
- Physical Health (dental, vision, hearing, and medical screening and care; animal-assisted physical & occupational therapy; health navigators & promotoras; hospice/palliative/home health care; disability services, securing health insurance): $284,000 / 18 grants
- Behavioral Health (mental health counseling and therapy, crisis response, suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention, treatment, and therapy, animal-assisted behavioral health therapy, grief counseling): $388,000 / 18 grants
- Integrated Care (offering both physical and behavioral healthcare): $153,000 / 9 grants
- Specialized Disability Services: $95,000 / 9 grants
Basic Needs (Renewals, year 3 of 3 yr grants)
- Food (food banks and pantries, meal services, food-related equipment and delivery vehicles): $213,000 / 14 grants
- Housing (emergency shelters, safe houses, rental/mortgage assistance): $80,000 / 5 grants
- Safety (domestic violence, sexual assault, child advocacy, in-home parent education and child abuse prevention): $244,000 / 13 grants
- Transportation (medical, dial-a-ride vouchers, bus passes): $45,000 / 2 grants
- Multi-need (family resource centers): $279,000 / 14 grants
In addition to these general operating grants, Staff Care grants were made to each of the funded organizations for a total of $178,500. Events in the last few years have put tremendous strain on everyone, but especially on employees in the health and human service field who are often stretched to the limit and sacrifice their own health in caring for their clients. The Foundation understands that staff are the most precious resource for any organization. In response, these unsolicited, restricted grantswere awarded as a means for organizations to directly support the emotional and physical well-being of staff. RMHF believes these grants are a unique and meaningful way to further promote the health of people on the Western Slope.
These recent awards bring the Foundation’s total giving for the year to $3,933,500. More than 275 organizations received grants in 2024, with the dollars supporting physical, behavioral, and social-emotional health, basic needs, and healthcare workforce development.