Community Resilience Fund RFP Recipients
/Our Community Resiliency Fund aims to remove barriers for impacted community led organizations and create more opportunities to fuel systemic change. We are excited to share that recipients for the $2 million in funding from the Community Resiliency Fund have been confirmed.
At the recommendation and based on the scoring of our panel of community partners BHT has awarded twenty (20) community-based organizations having leadership, Board, and/or staff comprised of at least 50% impacted persons*. All the organizations serve and/or advocate for persons with intersecting identities that have been negatively impacted by systemic and institutionalized racism.
Thirteen (13) community-based organizations funded are focused on, but not solely, serving our Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color in Spokane to prevent, mitigate, and repair the impacts of systematic racism.
Four (4) community-based organizations funded are focused, but not solely, on serving persons justice-involved.
Two (2) community-based organizations funded are focused on, but not solely, serving members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
One (1) community-based organization funded is an activist building and supporting organization, working against systemic and intrinsically racist policies.
For more details about the process, scroll below the recipient list.
Organizations selected included:
4GE:
4GE works to provide equal opportunity to holistic health and housing by creating the infrastructure to relief through community development, advocacy and access. This funding will support operating the Housing Advocacy Program as a solution for low-income, justice-involved, vulnerable persons and refugees to high eviction and incarceration rates and low access to pre-eviction and post-conviction relief in Spokane County.
Feast Collective
Feast Collective elevates and empowers immigrants and former refugees as leaders. We use international cuisine as a platform for economic resilience, holistic growth, and culture-sharing. This funding will support continued operational components of the Immigrant and Refugee-led commercial restaurant as well as Table Time-a community resource program for chefs and their families.
Health and Justice Recovery Alliance:
The Health and Justice Recovery Alliance provides a Peer service delivery model that centers the experience of the participant and community in crisis by supporting navigation from crisis to well-being. These funds will help prevent, disrupt and support restoration for individuals experiencing destabilization/crisis by examining the complicity of systems of oppression and exclusion that exist at all touchpoints across multiple systems.
Hispanic Business and Professional Association (HBPA) of Spokane:
The Hispanic Business/ Professional Association's mission is to promote and serve business growth, professional development, education opportunities, cultural preservation and social justice for the Hispanic community in the Inland Northwest. This funding will support an expansion of Esperanza's staffing, a pilot that is culturally and linguistically attuned mental health therapy and continue to infuse services with activities that bolster community well-being and center Hispanic/Latinx culture.
Latinos En Spokane
Latinos En Spokane is an organization that supports citizen participation, integration, community development, and empowerment of the Latino population in Spokane. These funds will support the building of a commercial kitchen to support the healthy cooking class for elderly community members, cultural events, and cooking instruction. Also funding a Spanish language driver education course.
Manzanita House:
Manzanita House is a local nonprofit created with a commitment to the development of our community and collaborative solutions that view all stakeholders as equals. The name was inspired by the resilience of the Manzanita plant that withstands and thrives in the wake of wildfires, as we see this resiliency in the immigrant community. This funding will support the work with and for the immigrant community in Spokane to build stability and strength by providing low-cost, accessible legal aid, and focusing on family-based and humanitarian immigration.
MiA - Mujeres in Action
MiA is committed to advocating for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, helping them to reach their full potential, and educating our community from a Latinx perspective to eradicate family violence. These funds will support the organizations ability to provide culturally-responsive healing and survivor-centered support to Latinx and Hispanic survivors of domestic violence (DV) and/or sexual assault (SA) in Spokane County and the surrounding region.
NAACP Spokane Branch 1137
The NAACP works to disrupt inequality, dismantle racism, and accelerate change in key areas including criminal justice, health care, education, climate, and the economy. This funding will support the ‘Challenging the Narrative’ project, which is a monthly series in which the NAACP connect anti-racist work and its key players to the Spokane Community at large.
Northeast Youth & Family Services (NEYFS food pantry)
Northeast Youth & Family Services (NEYFS) is a resource center committed to empowering generations by providing access and support to youth and families in Northeast Spokane. “Creativity Project” will apply CRF funding toward final kitchen supplies needed, such as appliances/cookware/tableware, stocking the food pantry, costs for curriculum/classes, and largely toward hiring one staff member to oversee the kitchen, pantry, food-truck rotation, gardening, scheduling, classes, and all other needs pertaining to the serving our community.
Operation Healthy Family (OHF):
Operation Healthy Family and its programs use a culturally relevant approach to reach diverse families in poverty. Our work focuses on creating equity for families’ who don’t have the opportunities that accompany economic and social advantages. This funding will support a youth internship program with the goal of increasing BIPOC representation in underrepresented career fields.
Pacific Islander Community Association of Washington
The Pacific Islander Community Association of WA (PICA-WA) serves as a cultural home, centers community power and advocates to further the wellness of Pacific Islander communities in Washington State. This Funding is for the continued operation of the Oceania Leadership Institute-an anti-racist community-led training series. This promotes centering of community power and advocates to further the wellness of Pacific Islander communities.
Peace & Justice Action League of Spokane:
PJALS builds a cross-racial, intergenerational, all-gender, rural-urban, bottom-up movement centered on the leadership of impacted people. This funding will support the building of the Leadership Development (BOLD) Project, Young Activist Leaders Program, and the Peace & Justice Action Conference.
Raze Development Inc.
Raze Early Learning and Development Center demolishes the divisive and traumatic current narrative of the black student in education. Raze Early Learning and Development Center prioritizes family engagement and partnership by first acknowledging the parent as the cornerstone teacher. These funds will support in continuing to provide culturally immersive, individualized curriculum for Black students in early learning education, and instruction that validates and affirms Black Culture while creating standards to ensure kindergarten readiness.
Revive Center for Returning Citizens
The mission of the Revive Center for Returning Citizens is to empower those impacted by the criminal justice system, advance multi-dimensional solutions to the effects of incarceration and achieve racial justice. We serve and support individuals and families to heal from trauma and reenter society with opportunities and community connections. This funding will support 3 sessions of training for their justice-involved population.
Salish School of Spokane:
Salish School of Spokane is a Salish immersion school offering childcare and elementary school for families in the City of Spokane and surrounding areas. Funding will support the Pre-K through adult Salish language education programs to improve the lives of Native American people in Spokane beginning with the preservation and revitalization of traditional language and culture.
Shades of Motherhood Network:
The Shades of Motherhood Network's mission is to center Black mothers and birthing people through education, empowerment, and community so that we can use our voices, art activism, cultural care and awareness, advocacy, and data collection to eradicate health inequities. These funds will support in strengthening Shades of Motherhood to more powerfully address, mitigate, and prevent impacts of systemic racism on Black birthing people, other people of color, and infants of color through education, art activism, advocacy, data collection, and community.
Spectrum:
Spectrum Center Spokane is an intersectional and intergenerational organization that uplifts the 2SLGBTQ+ Community. This funding will be used to continue to build on creating Queer Indigenous programs and spaces, Queer Black programs and spaces, and Queer POC (non-Black and non-Indigenous POC) programs and spaces.
Spokane Pride:
Spokane Pride is committed to developing Pride experiences that are welcoming, engaging, and accessible for ALL people of all identities and experiences. As an organization, Spokane Pride is committed to developing Pride experiences that are welcoming, engaging, and accessible for ALL people of all identities and experiences. The funding will be used to hire their first Executive Director.
Way to Justice:
The Way to Justice is a community law firm led and created by women of color. Through direct representation, impact litigation, policy reform, and advocacy work, they address the barriers facing individuals who have been negatively impacted by our justice system. Funding will support in providing direct legal representation and advocating for policy changes, as well as empowering justice-involved people and their families through advocacy and access; decreasing the inequitable results of our current justice system on BIPOC and low-income people; and helping to dismantle structural racism.
Yoyot Sp'q'n'I
Yoyot Sp'q'n'I works to support and teach advocacy by uplifting and empowering indigenous peoples. These funds will support a location (2 years of housing costs for a 5-bedroom home, rent/utilities/deposit) to be a reliable, planted resource for those needing Domestic Violence Support.
May 18, 2023 Update: Thank you to all applicant organizations! We have finished the presentation process and panelists have completed deliberation. The application process is below for reference
Background
Better Health Together (BHT) was founded on the principle that when we step back and let the local community lead, we find the best and most sustainable solutions to some of our most complex problems. We recognize the history of systemic and institutional racism and its impact historically and currently on underrepresented and oppressed populations. We acknowledge we are living in a culture of white privilege and dominance. We continue to see white voices prioritized in leadership positions that far out balances the voices of people of color and impacted* communities. We know this presence of white-supremacy culture is apparent in patterns of funding and philanthropy towards nonprofit and community-based organizations.
In 2020, BHT adopted a Board policy acknowledging racism as a public health crisis and deepening our commitment to equity and anti-racist work. With this statement we released and funded 1.5 million dollars from our Community Resiliency Fund to address and prevent the impacts of racism as a public health crisis. To play a part in closing the gap between inequitable funding patterns, the BHT board voted to prioritize awarding dollars to organizations led by and serving Black, Indigenous, people of color, and LGBTQIA2S+ people.
BHT received 34 letters of interest. BHT staff facilitated a team of community evaluators consisting of 50% BIPOC panelists that reviewed each project and made final funding recommendations. At the recommendation of the community evaluators, we capped funding to any given applicant at $100,000 and prioritized projects with the most immediate readiness to make an impact in a -1-year period. We did our best to support all projects through free coaching and technical assistance in project development and organizational capacity.
In early 2021, we funded 23 organizations. We received clear feedback from the funded partners that this kind of dedicated and flexible funding evaluated through a community process based in trust was highly needed and valued.
Opportunity
To further support our commitment, BHT is releasing an additional $2,000,000 of our Community Resiliency Fund in a Request for Proposal process to address Racism as a Public Health crisis and prioritize awarding dollars to organizations led by and serving impacted populations.*
BHT is expecting to fund up to 20 organizations, at a maximum of $100,000 per proposal for up to two years.
Purpose
To support community organizations that are led by and for BIPOC and impacted populations. The purpose of this funding is to:
Address, mitigate, and/or prevent impacts of systemic racism
Strengthen organizations led by and serving communities impacted by systems of oppression, specifically prioritizing those organizations supporting impacted populations.
Ensure diverse and meaningful participation from community voice to shift power, guide decision making, support self-governance and direct funding
Leverage our privileged position to draw more funding and resources to the region in sustainable and equitable ways
Increase investment and technical assistance as identified by BIPOC and impacted community organizations to meet critical community needs
Invest in BIPOC and impacted community organization to support health
Intent: Broad vs Focused Support
Broad. Intent is to provide some support to as many partners as interested, within the limits of the funding amount.
Intent: Current vs New Partners
Both current and new partners are eligible. See eligibility below.
Eligibility
Initial review of eligibility will include:
Organization is “by & for” impacted communities*, with 50% or higher leadership, Board, and/or staff comprised of individuals from impacted groups
Organization is located in the Better Health Together region (Spokane, Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Stevens counties)
Organization is a 501c3 or has a fiscal sponsor
What should proposals address?
This funding can be used for either new or existing programs or ideas. These programs or services could be be, but not limited to, focused on reparative justice, prevention, and mitigation.
The following criteria will be used to determine how funds are distributed:
Anti-Racism & Equity: Organization and project goals are in alignment with promoting anti-racism
Target population: Project serves impacted communities
By and for: Project addresses identified needs in the community they serve
Project clarity: Shows alignment between requested funds and intended goals and outcomes
Impact: Funding increases community and/or organizational capacity
Proximity: Organization/group has a direct role in meeting needs of impacted communities
Timeline
November/December
The RFP is released & panelists selected. BHT will recruit 2-3 community leaders to participate in selection panels with a staff member. It is not expected that the same panels will evaluate all proposals, however, all panels must consist of at least half BIPOC individuals.
January 13
Application closes.
February
The panels review proposals. Initial review of eligibility will include “By & For” organizational prioritization; with 50% or higher leadership and/or staff comprised of individuals from impacted groups.
March/April
Decision and announcement of decision. One- or two-year contracts start.
To Apply
Click the “Apply for Funding Opportunity” button below to complete the application.
The application will close January 13th at 11:59 PM PST.
The application includes the following:
Organization/Group Name
Contact Name
Contact Phone
Leadership Identity
Funding amount requested
1- or 2-year contract
Preferred payout plan
501(c)(3) or Fiscal Sponsor
W9
Letters of support(optional)
Background of intent to apply/Project Description
Population you serve/Project Reach
Equity Lens
Technical Assistance
The application will close January 13th at 11:59 PM PST.
Thank you for your time and all that you do to serve the community!
Questions? Reach out to bhtequityteam@betterhealthtogether.org
Also, stay tuned for another RFP announcement coming soon!
*BHT uses the term impacted communities to refer broadly to all groups that have been impacted by systems of oppression, such as Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQA2S+, currently or formerly houseless, disabled, justice-involved, low-income, refugee/immigrant people, and more groups that face systemic inequity.
Recognizing how our intersecting identities connect, it is important to call out that while white people may experience some of these forms of oppression, this experience is not the same as racism and cannot be racialized for them. A white person experiencing discrimination because of their disability does not have to consider how their race might have influenced their treatment (although if they are doing their anti-racist work, they should). In contrast, a black person with a disability in this example does not get the privilege of separating their experience of racism and the experience of ableism.