Our Programs
Grant Information.
Our Programs
The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation (MCHF) is committed to supporting programs that advance comprehensive access to healthcare, especially for low-income and vulnerable populations. Broadly defined, access to healthcare is the ability to obtain quality care when and where it is needed. Medically underserved communities and vulnerable populations contend with a range of barriers to access, the cumulative impact of which contributes to inequity in health outcomes. MCHF strives to support programs that help ensure all New Yorkers have access to the full complement of health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. Programs within this portfolio will address a variety of factors that impact access to quality healthcare, including the following:
- Affordability: Mitigating the cost of healthcare services and treatments.
- Physical Accessibility: Improving ability to physically or virtually access healthcare services. (Could include telehealth, community paramedicine, new service locations, mobile units)
- Capacity: Ensuring that available programs, services and supports are sufficient to meet demand. (Could include capital projects, service expansions/scaling. Does not include the provision of adding more staff – see our Healthcare Workforce Program)
- Acceptability: Improving availability of and access to culturally and linguistically competent care.
In order to promote health equity, MCHF recognizes that it is essential to address the basic needs of New Yorkers. Many individuals and families face significant challenges that impact their ability to achieve good health including food insecurity, inadequate housing, economic instability, and lack of access to vital social services. Our Basic Needs program aims to support the following essentials so New Yorkers can build healthy lives:
- Food and nutrition: Improving access to healthy and culturally appropriate food and nutritional guidance for vulnerable New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity or diet-related chronic disease and building long-term solutions to promote equitable access to healthy and affordable food for all.
- Housing: Supporting services to keep vulnerable New Yorkers of all abilities safe and stably housed, including homelessness prevention, supportive housing, housing counseling, and programs to help older adults age in place. This does not include the physical development of housing.
- Economic security/mobility: Promoting equitable opportunities and paths to financial stability including financial literacy and coaching, inclusive jobs training and education, access to safe and affordable financial services, and emergency financial assistance.
- Access to benefits and social services: Providing culturally and linguistically appropriate support to assist individuals and families to access, navigate, and coordinate benefits and social service programs such as SNAP, WIC, health insurance, and childcare—promoting equitable access to benefits and overall health and wellbeing.
MCHF is committed to improving the health of vulnerable New Yorkers by supporting the development of a skilled and diverse healthcare workforce. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated healthcare workforce shortages and exposed vulnerabilities across the continuum of care. To improve access to care, quality of care, and cultural competency in the health care delivery system, we seek to support the development and implementation of innovative and effective healthcare workforce initiatives. MCHF recognizes the variety of stakeholders that are working to strengthen the healthcare workforce, including but not limited to, healthcare organizations, educational institutions, professional associations, and community-based organizations, and will support individual and collaborative efforts that address challenges across the workforce spectrum, including:
- Pipeline and recruitment: Ensuring a pipeline of talented healthcare workers is available to meet the healthcare needs of the most vulnerable New Yorkers.
- Education and training: Improving quality of and access to training programs and internships for high-demand healthcare positions and ensuring completion of programs by addressing social and economic barriers.
- Career ladder and retention: Improving career pathways and providing support to pursue opportunities within healthcare careers. Improving employee retention strategies, addressing worker burnout and social barriers to work.
- Equity and diversity: Increasing the diversity of the healthcare workforce at all levels, including leadership, to promote high quality, culturally and linguistically appropriate care, toward greater health equity.
MCHF recognizes that mental and behavioral health are essential elements of overall health. Broadly defined, this includes an individual’s emotional, psychological, psychiatric, and social wellbeing, along with related behaviors, such as substance use and other addictions. MCHF understands that mental and behavioral health needs are particularly acute in historically marginalized communities and for populations that have been adversely affected by socioeconomic inequities. MCHF also understands that mental and behavioral health services are embedded in multiple systems, and as such, will consider individual and collaborative efforts among those systems. MCHF aims to support programs that include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Interventions and Treatment: Improving the quality of care and services in clinical and non-clinical settings, including by supporting the delivery of trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and person-centered care targeted to specific populations and integrating and coordinating mental and behavioral health services with other health and social services.
- Capacity and Access: Building the capacity of the sector to increase the timely availability of and access to affordable, high-quality mental and behavioral health care in clinical and community-based settings. This could include building and diversifying the workforce, expanding crisis response services, or increasing the volume of traditional and non-traditional providers and support systems.
- Education, Awareness, and Prevention: Increasing awareness, improving engagement, and reducing stigma and other barriers to care.
MCHF recognizes that our Programs will not include the full spectrum of opportunities to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable New Yorkers. The General Fund is designed to consider and support projects that do not fit within our Programs but that advance the health and wellbeing of our eight priority populations:
- Immigrants
- Justice-Involved Individuals
- Low-Income Individuals and Families
- Older Adults
- People with Disabilities
- Veterans
- Young Children, Pregnant Women, and New Moms and Dads
- Youth and Young Adults
Process
- Letters of Inquiry
- Full Proposals
- Grant funds (awarded in Q4 2022)
Eligibility And Terms
What We Fund
- MCHF funds domestic section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service and the State of New York. Specifically, grants may only be made to a domestic public charity as described in Internal Revenue Code section 509(a)(1) or (2) or an exempt operating foundation as described in Internal Revenue Code section 4940(d)(2).
- All grants must adhere to and comply with the ethical principles, tenets, and teachings of the Roman Catholic Faith, including but not limited to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Applicant organizations are not required, however, to be affiliated with the Catholic Church to be eligible for grants.
- Applicant organizations generally should reside in New York State, and primarily serve New York State residents.
- Grants must benefit poor, disadvantaged, or underserved New York State residents.
- Applicants should have an annual budget of $750,000 or more.
- MCHF will generally consider grant proposals of $75,000 or greater.
- Grants must be used exclusively for the specific program, activity or project approved by the MCHF, which, in all cases, must be in furtherance of the MCHF’s charitable purposes.
- Applicant organizations must demonstrate that they exhibit sound financial management and governance practices and are capable of effectively carrying out the programs, activities or projects proposed to be funded.
- Applicants must demonstrate their capacity to work with the populations to be served by the project.
- MCHF plans to prioritize grant proposals that focus on providing direct services and programs.
What We Do Not Fund
- MCHF will not make grants to individuals.
- MCHF will not make grants for any activities that involve carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation (within the meaning of Section 4945(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code).
- MCHF will not make grants in support of any activities that involve participating in, or intervening in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, influencing the outcome of any specific public election, or carrying on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive (within the meaning of Section 4945(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code).
- MCHF will not make grants to support events, conferences, or fundraising activities.
- MCHF does not plan to support capital grant programs, but may choose to do so on a limited, case-by-case basis.
- MCHF will not award grant funds to supplant current government funding but grant funds may be used to augment services funded using government sources.
Other Conditions
- All grants are subject to the Foundation’s monitoring program which will include periodic reporting and/or audits to ensure compliance with the terms of the grant.
- MCHF will not support any programs whose nature, purpose, and/or mission conflicts with or are contrary to the ethical principles, tenets, and teachings of the Roman Catholic Faith, including, but not limited to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- Generally, grants will be awarded for up to 12-month periods. Grant recipients are encouraged to seek diversified funding support.
- MCHF will consider paying up to 15% of indirect costs. Applicants will be required to provide information in the grant application about current indirect cost rates.
- Renewal grants are not assured. The Foundation is always open to new approaches and diverse organizations throughout New York that have not previously received funding from the Foundation.
- Applicants may not re-grant funds to other organizations without express written pre-approval of the MCHF. If such express written pre-approval has been provided, the sub-grantee programs are subject to the requirements related to the ethical principles, tenets, and teachings of the Roman Catholic Faith including, but not limited to, the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- Audited financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal year are required of all organizations. Applicant organizations that cannot meet this requirement may be eligible for an exemption on a case-by-case basis upon review of the full grant application.
- Submission of semiannual grant reports using a standard format to be provided with the grant award letter. In most cases, grantees will be required to submit an annual and interim grant report, and in some cases, quarterly or special reports on particular issues.
- A project budget must be submitted with the annual and interim grant reports using a format to be provided.
- A site visit may be required to review proposed grant activity both prior to grant award and at interim and final reporting periods.
- Any publicity regarding this grant should include an acknowledgement that the project was supported by the MCHF. MCHF requires prior approval of such publicity.
- Grantees must maintain documentation of current licensure and applicable background checks for all staff and maintain documented procedures for record keeping. Audit requirements will be outlined in the applicable grant agreement.
- Other requirements at the discretion of MCHF to ensure stewardship of the funds, accountability, and sound project management.