The first round of applications is open for McCullough-Hyde Foundation’s newly-launched Community Granting Program, which will divvy at least $200,000 a year to organizations or projects focused on community health in Butler and Preble Counties, along with Indiana’s Franklin and Union Counties.
McCullough-Hyde Foundation’s Executive Director Tyler Wash said his organization is focused on a holistic approach to health, on the basis that “healthcare” can be anything that helps residents lead healthier lives. As such, the granting program will focus on five specific areas of community health: mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, healthcare access, food insecurity and obesity, and healthy behaviors.
Wash told the Journal-News that the foundation, now 85 years old, found itself searching for a new mission once the non-profit McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital it owned and operated for over 60 years became a part of Cincinnati-based TriHealth network.
“We asked, ‘What else can we do now that TriHealth is operating and owning the hospital operation side?’” Wash said. “At that time, it was determined that healthcare is not just within the four walls of the hospital, it’s out in the communities; it’s helping people live healthier, better lives, and it doesn’t matter if you are presenting to the ER or out doing yoga in the park.”
The five focus areas of the granting program came directly from McCullough-Hyde’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment, which it completes every three years with the help of community-polled focus groups and relevant data to identify the biggest issues impacting the health of nearby communities. Wash said the granting program was designed with this local impact in mind.
“Each community is dealing with their own set of issues and projects and goals, so we want to be able to partner with those communities to meet them where they’re at and to engage in the projects that they’re working on, whether its related to mental health or access to healthcare or alcohol and drug abuse, so forth and so on,” Wash said.
The program is set up through an endowment and will grant at least $200,000 a year in perpetuity to non-profits or local governments throughout three funding cycles in April, August and December. Interested parties must apply before April 15 to be considered for the program’s first round of grants.
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