As The Health Foundation concluded its first decade of grantmaking, our interest as a learning organization led us to commission an evaluation of our first ten years of grantmaking. In May 2011 we were pleased to receive and publicly share the Evaluation Report for The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts: Analyses of Its First Ten Years of Grantmaking (2000-2010) prepared by evaluation consultants Pamela S. Imm, Ph.D. and Annie Wright, Ph.D. This publication led Grantmakers for Effective Organizations to recognize the Foundation for our transparency and commitment to assessment and also enabled FSG Social Impact Advisors to showcase the Foundation’s grantmaking for having made a “collective impact.”
We are applying the knowledge we gained from the evaluation report to continuously improve and invigorate our work as we begin our second decade. Despite an extremely volatile investment market in 2011, the Foundation’s assets were maintained at $60 million. Thus, we have been able to call for the submission of letters of intent to the Activation Fund. These one-year grants have enabled 49 organizations in the region to develop new ventures and capacities, many of which have had a lasting positive impact on the organizations and the vulnerable populations they serve.
In addition, the Foundation has been able to continue its support for the four multi-year projects that are currently funded through our Health Care and Health Promotion Synergy Initiative. These projects address community identified health issues through a three-to-five year process of planning, piloting, and full implementation of evidence-based strategies, with the ultimate goal of securing administrative or public policies to sustain the strategies beyond the grant. We began 2012 by announcing pilot grants totaling $1.8 million for the following projects: A Better Life – providing Worcester Housing Authority tenants with education/training and employment opportunities to promote self-sufficiency; The Compass Project – addressing youth and young adult homelessness in Worcester; Worcester Initiative for Supported Reentry (WISR) – guiding prisoner reentry in Worcester to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety; and Improve Access to Care – improving access to care by establishing a satellite of the Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in Milford.
Throughout our brief history, we have invested $22 million in grant projects and our grantees have established meaningful improvements in the health of those who live or work in Central Massachusetts. We have every confidence that our future grantees will continue to achieve substantive results and we welcome the opportunity to support their efforts
Sincerely,