Learning From Previous Investments & Community Health Assessments
In the summer of 2021, the Foundation for a Healthy High Point commissioned Greenseid Consulting Group, LLC (GCG) to review the findings from previous community health assessments and the Foundation’s previous grantmaking to identify potential priority areas for future grantmaking efforts.
- GCG conducted a meta-analysis of nine existing health assessments focusing on Guilford County or the Greater High Point area.
- In addition, GCG conducted a retrospective study of the Foundation’s grantmaking since its inception. This look-back included a quantitative analysis of the Foundation’s investments since 2014 and a qualitative deep dive into describing the impact of the Foundation’s strategic initiative focused on maternal and child health.
These evaluations were instrumental in the Foundation’s planning for our new Strategic Direction. The resulting reports are all available on our website— including seven case studies describing individual programs funded through the Healthy Beginnings initiative.
Combined Analysis of Community Health Assessments
The nine studies reviewed for the report prioritized five key issues affecting the health and well-being of High Point residents:
- Mental Health, Behavioral Health, & Substance Use
- Maternal, Infant, & Child Health
- Poverty & Violence
- Food Insecurity, Healthy Eating, & Active Living
- Other Social Determinants: Education, Economic Health, Healthy Housing, Transportation, and Childcare
The Foundation for a Healthy High Point previously made strategic investments in the top two issue areas. The Foundation’s Healthy Beginnings initiative, launched in 2015, supports evidence-based programs working at a population level to prevent unintended pregnancies and promote healthy pregnancies and healthy early development for children. The Healthy Minds initiative, launched in 2020, focuses on improving the mental health of High Point residents through increased access to integrated behavioral health services.
The three additional key issues are related to social determinants of health: Poverty & Violence; Food Insecurity, Healthy Eating, & Active Living; and others such as Education, Economic Health, Healthy Housing, Transportation, and Childcare. Social determinants of health are “conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.” (Healthy People 2030)
GCG found that to date, the Foundation has made small investments to address social determinants related to economic stability, educational access, neighborhood and built environment, and other conditions. GCG recommends that the Foundation consider funding strategic work to address these social determinants of health identified as priorities for improving the health and well-being of Greater High Point.
Retrospective Analysis of the Foundation’s Grantmaking
By the Numbers
Between 2014 and the end of April 2021, the Foundation for a Healthy High Point reviewed 307 grant proposals, awarding nearly $12 million in funding to 130 projects. About 70% of the Foundation’s grantmaking was “responsive,” meaning that the Foundation’s grants were made in response to proposals and ideas from nonprofits regarding what they felt was most needed in the community. Responsive grantmaking projects primarily supported activities aimed at impacting individuals or creating changes at organizations and primarily supported direct services and increasing organizational capacity.
In contrast, 30% of Foundation funding was “strategic.” The Foundation established three strategic funding initiatives—Healthy Beginnings, Healthy Minds, and Capacity Building—and sought specific proposals for projects that fit into these areas of interest.
Capacity Building and Healthy Beginnings strategic initiatives funded substantial work to change existing systems and support individual community members. Systems-level projects have the potential for sustained impact as organizations invest in changes to systems that support healthy behaviors.
Stories of Impact on Maternal and Child Health
The Foundation’s Healthy Beginnings initiative funds evidence-based approaches to support population-level change in early childhood development, healthy births, and preventing unintended pregnancies. Between 2015 and 2022, the Foundation provided 40 grants totaling over $3 million in funding to 12 organizations as part of Healthy Beginnings. These included three projects focusing on teen pregnancy prevention, two projects supporting pregnant mothers and children from birth to two years old, three projects supporting children from birth to age five, and two systems-change initiatives.
GCG interviewed seven Healthy Beginnings partners to gather and tell the stories of change and impact from their work. Healthy Beginnings funded projects provided nearly 2,000 at-risk families in Greater High Point with home visits and parental education, and more than 1,500 teens received pregnancy prevention education and/or contraception services.
| Read the Healthy Beginnings case study stories:Family Connects Guilford – Guilford County Health DepartmentJustTEENS Wellness Clinic – Guilford County Health Department (coming soon!)Nurse-Family Partnership – Guilford Child DevelopmentParents as Teachers Program – YWCA High Point (coming soon!)Partnering for Healthy Parenting Program – Children’s Home SocietyReady for School, Ready for LifeWise Guys Programs – Children’s Home Society of North Carolina |