We’re excited to share our updated approach as a funder. This is a result of a two-year realignment journey, grounded in listening and learning to all of you, our trusted partners.
We could not look ahead without first reflecting on the last three years. The devastating impact of the pandemic on low-income communities, particularly communities of color, prompted us to make temporary changes to our grantmaking practices and funding priorities. We increased our grantmaking payouts, broadened funding opportunities, and simplified our processes to address the unprecedented need we faced. It quickly became evident that to remain responsive to the needs of the community, we had to reassess our ongoing approach.
So, in 2021 we began our realignment journey, guided by public health data and extensive community engagement with grantees, community organizations, government partners, and funders. We listened and learned to ensure our new model is rooted in the wisdom and insights of our community.
With our Board of Trustees, we’re pleased to share key highlights of the changes we have made. We invite you to visit our website to learn more about these adjustments.
First, we’ve revised our funding priorities to provide our partners more opportunity to design their own solutions. We maintain our commitment to our three focus areas of food and nutrition, chronic disease prevention and management, and housing support. But we also recognize the importance of rooting our funding opportunities in autonomy and flexibility so that our partners can build health equity in ways that resonate with their unique circumstances and communities.
Furthermore, we’ve broadened our funding opportunities to include infrastructure, capacity-building, programmatic support, and policy/advocacy efforts. We understand that each of these approaches plays a crucial role in creating the opportunity for every Silicon Valley resident to live a healthy life, and we are committed to supporting our partners in their diverse approaches.
Recognizing the many ways to address inequality in health beyond our three Focus Areas, we’ve redesigned our Emerging Opportunity Fund as the Health Equity Fund. This fund is designed to occasionally support timely, critical projects that may fall outside of our Focus Areas but specifically address health disparities in communities that are disproportionately impacted.
Effective grantmaking requires ongoing learning, and we’re committed to reviewing, assessing, and modifying our model to ensure that we remain responsive to the needs of our community.
We’re deeply appreciative of all of our partners who shared their time, insights, and critiques to help inform and shape our new model as a funder. We hope it reflects The Health Trust’s unwavering commitment to working toward a future where every Silicon Valley resident has the opportunity to live a healthy life.