Community Partnerships Grant Program

This component of Health Through Action is building a national network of AA&NHPI communities, strengthening their infrastructure, and increasing their ability to conduct effective health programming, inform policy, and affect systems change. Under the Health Through Action program, 8 communities across the United States received four-year, $600,000 grants to improve health and health care for vulnerable AA & NHPI children, adults, and families. The 8 grantees were chosen from an initial field of 136 applicants. They represent populations that are diverse in many ways - different sizes and cultures, both urban and rural, and geographic locations.

Grantee List

• Asian Pacific Community in Action, Arizona
• Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Georgia
• Asian American Health coalition of Greater Houston, Inc., Texas
• Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services, Hawaii
• Minnesota Asian American Health Coalition, Minnesota
• Asian Services in Action, Ohio
• Asian Health Services, California
• Asian American Coalition for Children & Families, New York

Dates for grantee selection

• Announcement for LOIs : Jan 1, 2007
• Deadline for submitting LOI : Feb 28, 2007
• Deadline for submitting RFP : Jun 1, 2007
• Site visits : August - October, 2007
• Announcement of final grantees : Nov 16, 2007
• Project start date : Jan 1, 2008
• Project end date : Dec 31, 2011

Grantee selection process

APIAHF issued an open invitation to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI). Applicants were required to be AA&NHPI led, non-profit 501c3, local community based organizations serving vulnerable AA&NHPI communities. Five reviewers from APIAHF and WKKF objectively and independently reviewed the 136 LOIs received. Then 30 LOIs were invited to submit full proposals. Out of those 28 submitted full proposals. The 28 full proposals were each independently reviewed by 9 reviewers from APIAHF, WKKF, and external. Then 17 proposals were selected for site visits. Each site visit was conducted by a team of three reviewers from APIAHF, from WKKF, and external.

How Funding Will Be Used

Grantees, who started their work in early 2008, will provide direct services to meet targeted needs, document and raise awareness of local ethnic-specific health issues in the AA&NHPI communities, and work with policymakers to increase the health care resources to address these issues. For example,

• To address the communities' immediate needs through:
  • Screening and prevention of diseases such as Hepatitis B, Liver and Stomach Cancer, Breast cancer, etc.;
  • Culturally and linguistically appropriate programs;
  • Initiatives that will empower community members to advocate for increased access to health care.
• To create a vivid snapshot of AA&NHPI's real health status through the collection and use of data and the comprehensive assessment of ethnic specific health needs.
• To use these essential statistics to galvanize local, state and federal legislators and policy leaders to provide increased resources and better programming to reduce disparities.
• To raise the visibility of AA&NHPI health issues, in order to draw equitable attention to this community's challenges.

This web site will compile the lessons, experiences, best practices, and data gathered by Health Through Action grantees, in the hope that others in the AA&NHPI community can use and benefit from them.