Elizabeth Ripley of the Mat-Su Health Foundation to Be Honored with the 2025 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award
Elizabeth Ripley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mat-Su Health Foundation in Alaska, will receive Grantmakers In Health’s 2025 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award.
Maternal Health in American Indian/Alaska Native Communities: Challenges, Opportunities, and Pathways Forward
Maternal health is a cornerstone of any community’s well-being, yet American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women face disproportionate challenges in achieving safe and healthy pregnancies. Historical inequities, systemic barriers, and the enduring effects of colonization have resulted in significant maternal health disparities within Native communities. However, these same communities are also sources of resilience, creativity, and innovation. Maternal health programs aimed at centering community in tradition, culture, and resiliency can offer unique, cross-sectoral solutions to complex systemic health barriers for AI/AN families.
Investing in Civic Infrastructure: The Rise of a New Foundation in a Rural, Disinvested Community
When people hear about our work in Imperial Valley, they often exclaim, “How exciting to build a new foundation!” But I gently redirect them: We’re not building another institution— the last thing our communities need is another organization competing for resources. Instead, we’re building civic infrastructure to create the framework for lasting, community-led change.
2025 Rural Health Philanthropy Partnership Meeting
Grantmakers In Health (GIH), the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the National Rural Health Association, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Rural Health will co-host the 2025 Rural Health Philanthropy Partnership Meeting, welcoming foundations, federal entities, and other partners to discuss how our combined efforts might produce better health outcomes…
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $75 Million Investment in Rural Health Care
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced nearly $75 million to support health care services in rural America. Funding will launch new opioid treatment and recovery services in rural communities, strengthen maternal health care in the South, and help rural hospitals stay open.
2024 Rural Health Philanthropy Partnership Meeting
Participants will have the opportunity to connect with one another, share ideas, and discuss how combined efforts can produce better outcomes for rural communities.
A New Philanthropic Approach to Supporting the Health and Capacity of Rural Communities
To understand health and wellness in rural America, it has been suggested that you need to find a trusted intermediary inside the region that is walking hand-in-hand with the community. Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group describes this type of intermediary as a Rural Development Hub. Rural Development Hubs focus on advancing an asset-based, wealth-building approach to rural community engagement and economic development. This inherently includes increasing the health and wellness of the community and its residents; increasing local ownership of all types of assets from cultural, social, financial to political, attracting external resources and funding; and it always includes low-income, under resourced people and places. Hubs seek to transform regions by treating root causes of multigenerational poverty and disease by shifting the balance of power and developing a stronger power base in the community and with those most impacted by the issues at hand.
Philanthropy’s Impact on Health Care Systems: Supporting the Creation of a Community-Health Worker-Based Chronic Care Management Model in Appalachia
Guided by its mission of “helping people help themselves,” the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation strategically invests in the creative problem-solving activities of local communities and individuals. For the past decade, the Benedum Foundation has accomplished this mission in its support of a particular health care delivery model: efficient chronic disease management through a medical model leveraging the skills of community health workers in Appalachia. This model provides unique patient care, has shown success for improving the health conditions of a target population, and reduced health care costs—accomplishments that align with the Institute of Health Improvement’s Triple Aim framework.
Cara V. James in KFF Health News on Child Care Gaps in Rural America
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) President and CEO Cara V. James was quoted in a KFF Health News article on January 2, 2024, titled “Child Care Gaps in Rural America Threaten to Undercut Small Communities.” The piece outlines the state of inequitable child care access, how this gap negatively impacts the sustainability and longevity of rural communities, and policy aimed at reducing costs and combatting workforce shortages.
National Rural Health Day Provides an Opportunity for Philanthropy to Engage and Support Underserved Communities
For anyone with an interest in rural health, clear your calendar on November 16th and help celebrate National Rural Health Day, a day to celebrate and lift up the work of doctors, nurses, clinics, hospitals, and other stakeholders working in our rural communities.