Planting seeds for a healthier Michigan.
It's a challenging time to work in health. Nearly every critical pre-pandemic health issue has been exacerbated by COVID-19—mental health and substance use disorder care has been disrupted, food systems have been strained, older adults face increased isolation, and schools are working to provide a normal classroom experience in a time that is anything but.
In last year's year in review, we noted that nearly half a million Michigan residents had contracted the virus and that over 12,000 had died from it. Both of those numbers have more than doubled in the past year. What some dreamed would be a fresh start felt, in many ways, like a continuation of hardship. But 2021 was also the year of vaccinations—over 6 million Michigan residents have received at least one dose. Over 2 million have received a booster, which provides strong protection against severe cases. Progress is not a straight line, but we are getting stronger.
Throughout the journey, we've been taking time to listen to the needs of communities across Michigan. What health challenges and disparities has the pandemic exposed? How can our response now move us in the direction of future, wide-reaching change? If our grant partners' work is any indication, Michigan's future is bright, even in the face of monumental difficulty.
174 INITIATIVES SUPPORTED
It is the great joy of our foundation to support Michigan organizations whose work is imperative to the health and well-being of their communities.
This year, that support came through 174 grant awards and $34.5 million in total funding, all directed to Michigan-based health initiatives. Some of that funding, like the $1 million in COVID-19 vaccine outreach support through Special Projects & Emerging Ideas, responds to the unique state of today's health environment. All of it is rooted in a goal to tackle Michigan's greatest health challenges—whether that be at the individual, community, or state level.
Here's an overview of our 2021 grant awards:
- Community Health Impact—$7.7 million given to 86 projects, supporting collaborative efforts on key health issues, responding to community needs, and building nonprofit capacities.
- Behavioral Health—$6.9 million given to 24 projects, focused on improving access and reducing disparities related to mental health and substance use disorder healthcare.
- Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles—$6.5 million given to 25 projects, strengthening food systems, reducing disparities, and improving access to nutrition and physical activity.
- Healthy Aging—$8.7 million given to 24 projects, supporting caregiving, care coordination, and improving systems of healthcare.
- Special Projects & Emerging Ideas—$5.4 million given to 15 projects, featuring models that have the potential to lead to breakthroughs or expansion.
2021's biggest conversation starters.
For every health challenge in Michigan, there's an innovative solution. More often than not, those solutions are a product of years of conversation, collaboration, piloting, evaluation, and expansion. The Health Fund supports applicants during all stages of that process—and we often find lessons we never expected.
Read on for some of the projects and issues that got us talking this year:
HOME-BASED VACCINES DELIVER CRITICAL PROTECTION
How far would you go to make sure a vulnerable loved one gets a COVID-19 vaccine? For the Detroit Area Agency on Aging, providing home-delivered shots required hundreds of phone calls, coordination with local clinics and nursing staff, careful equipment preparation, and more. But the payoff was worth it: hundreds of Detroit area seniors, many disabled or otherwise homebound, receiving strong protection against the deadly virus.
It's one example of many vaccine outreach initiatives the Health Fund supported through $1 million in Special Projects & Emerging Ideas funding in the spring.
MICHIGAN'S STATE OF HEALTH
The inspiration for the Michigan's State of Health podcast series was simple: despite the tragic consequences of the pandemic on our state's health landscape, COVID-19 also reconnected us to each other in new and meaningful ways. The six-episode series features honest, thoughtful conversations with some of Michigan's most prominent community health leaders, with topics ranging from health equity to social isolation.
In the future, when we think of Michigan health conversations pre- and post-pandemic, this series will sit right at the inflection point. It may not be possible to fully understand the implications of a health crisis while it is still ongoing, but these discussions hint at the challenges that COVID has clarified and consider what could be coming next.
BRINGING CARE TO THE CLASSROOM
Schools have been a key access point for children's behavioral healthcare since well before the pandemic, but the added toll on students' mental health makes school-based care all the more crucial. Telehealth solutions are especially key for rural communities, where limited psychiatrists and therapists can make care hard to come by.
In a uniquely detailed case study and toolkit, we share Family Medical Center of Michigan's successful school clinic telepsychiatry model: how they built the infrastructure, how they implemented it, and all the lessons learned along the way. By outlining every step of the way, we hoped to help other FQHCs and education professionals learn from and adapt this exciting work.
MICHIGAN CAREGIVER SCAN
The Health Fund's Healthy Aging program supports not only Michigan's older adults, but also those who care for them. This report, released in November, takes a broad look at the state's caregiver supports. Some of the key takeaways:
- Of unpaid caregivers who want help, 42 percent don’t know where to get it
- Many of Michigan’s caregivers do not identify as such or are reluctant to engage in support programs
- Organizations most frequently report staffing shortages as a barrier to engaging caregivers in programs
- Caregivers seeking respite face long wait times or reduced options due to a shortage of direct care respite workers
View the full report for a more in-depth picture of Michigan's caregiver support system, as well as recommendations for legislators, funders, caregiver organizations, and community members.
HEALTH FUND WELCOMES NEW CEO
The Health Fund team was thrilled to welcome new CEO Neel Hajra to the helm this year. Neel is a longtime champion of public health and Michigan's nonprofit sector, having served as CEO of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation since 2015. He comes to the Health Fund as we're embracing our new five-year strategic plan [PDF], which calls us to expand our work on behalf of Michigan residents' health and well-being.
Neel succeeds founding CEO Paul Hillegonds, who guided the organization through its first five-year plan and over $177 million in grant awards. We're grateful for Paul's well-known wisdom and leadership, and we're excited for this next chapter.
Media Spotlight
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE HEALTH FUND AND OUR PARTNERS
When local and statewide media organizations cover our grant partners' work, we document it in our website's media room. Some of our favorite stories from 2021:
- Henry Ford to open post-ICU brain clinic for COVID-19 patients, others with behavioral health issues (Crain's Detroit, 1/27)
- Virtual series focused on helping seniors struggling with loneliness (Midland Daily News, 2/25)
- Newberry hospital takes steps to better assist adolescents with depression (The Sault News, 3/18)
- Preventing suicide among LGBTQ youth, adults in Kalamazoo County focus of $75K grant (MLive, 4/29)
- Health officials teaming up with United Way to get more people vaccinated (WNDU, 6/3)
- United Way tests out new hub to bridge data divide between health and human services (Crain's Detroit, 7/2)
- Grant to expand Community Action House, Harvest Stand Ministries partnership (The Holland Sentinel, 7/18)
- MiHIA nets grant to strengthen regional food ecosystem (Midland Daily News, 8/23)
- Several organizations team up to fight food insecurity in Michigan (WXYZ, 8/27)
- Monroe County Jail awarded gold standard of medical care (The Monroe News, 9/17)
- New partnership to educate Midland seniors, reduce risk of medication overload (Manistee News Advocate, 9/29)
- U.P. COVID-19 community town hall series continues as Michigan COVID-19 cases increase (The Mining Gazette, 10/18)
- New Behavioral Health Crisis Center to serve West Michigan being created by Mercy Health, Network180 (MLive, 12/19)
SUPPORTING HEALTH JOURNALISM
The Health Fund is a strong believer in the importance of comprehensive local health coverage—not only to share the exciting successes of our partners, but to educate, build connections, and better identify and define needs. We're proud to support Bridge's Michigan Health Watch and Second Wave Media's State of Health as each carves an important role in Michigan's media landscape.
Some examples of stories from Michigan Health Watch, which has become an indispensable resource for news related to COVID-19:
- Amid the isolation of COVID, Michigan Alzheimer’s deaths soar (January 26)
- COVID is fading, but racial gap in deaths is back with force in Michigan (May 11)
- For Michigan's long-haul COVID survivors, pandemic is far from over (June 25)
- Boarding a freighter in the Soo Locks to deliver 5 doses of COVID vaccine (May 12)
- Michigan teens' anxiety increased during COVID. Resources to help did not. (July 8)
- Bomb threats, school closings tighten student stress after Oxford shootings (December 2)
- Michigan has an obesity problem. That could make COVID even worse (December 16)
- Coronavirus Tracker (continuously updated)
Second Wave Media's State of Health shared Michigan communities' innovative and equitable responses to pressing health needs:
- Michigan grapples with COVID-19's disproportionate impact on people of color's mental health (January 14)
- Telehealth expansion has made health care more accessible during the pandemic – but not for everyone (April 15)
- Michigan pursues "age-friendly everything" to support growing older adult population (June 24)
- Michigan health care providers find success with "prescriptions" for fresh produce and exercise (September 23)
- Here's how the UP's Debweyendan Indigenous Gardens build health, community, and food sovereignty (October 28)
- Michigan prepares for long-term mental health effects of COVID-19 (December 16)
Thank you.
As 2021 comes to a close, gratitude is top of mind for all of us at the Health Fund. We could not ask for better grant partners, applicants, collaborators, and communities as we work to make our state a healthier place to live for residents of all ages and backgrounds. Even in the most difficult of circumstances, Michigan rises to the occasion and commits time and resources for the residents who need support the most. This year could have been defined by its lowest moments, but there is far too much hope in your work for that.
And as always, thank you to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for the funding that makes our work possible.
We hope you have a re-energizing holiday, and we look forward to seeing you in the new year.
- The Health Fund
Credits:
Cover image courtesy of Vista Grande Villa. Michigan's State of Health art by Jermaine Dickerson.