Innovation Grants

Vitalyst Health Foundation’s 2016 Innovation Grant funded partners are:

• Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, receiving $125,000 to establish the Cochise County Food Value Chain Initiative. The Initiative will bring local, healthy food to people in health care institutions and incentivize local food production by increasing demand.
• Feeding Matters, receiving $125,000 to launch the Pediatric Feeding Struggle Advocacy and Early Intervention Model. The model collaboratively creates a medically recognized name for pediatric feeding struggles and establishes replicable and scalable norms for identification, early intervention and reimbursement.
• Pima County Health Department, receiving $120,000 to develop the Mothers in Arizona Moving Ahead (MAMA) MAMA is an 18-month pilot project designed to map a new approach to achieve better health outcomes for young mothers in poverty and their children. The project will focus on both individual behaviors and systems change.
• West Valley Community Paramedicine through the City of Goodyear Fire Department received $125,000 to establish a Community Paramedicine Consortium in the West Valley to include Goodyear, Peoria, Sun City, Avondale and Surprise. The regional pilot will work collaboratively to address patients that are high frequency utilizers of the 911 system as well as develop a regional training curriculum.

Vitalyst Health Foundation was honored to join with the Arizona Community Foundation (ACF) as a collaborator in the grant review and funding process for a second consecutive year. The process resulted in ACF agreeing to provide funding for two additional proposals:

• Accept the Challenge, will receive $25,000 to expand the Operation Tone-Up initiative through the use of the internet to educate youth on healthy living and improve health-related fitness through exercise demonstrations and education.
• San Carlos Apache Tribe, will receive $70,900 to revise and improve the Pathways Into Health 5th Grade Curriculum and develop a toolkit that can be shared with other Tribes.

Medical Assistance Program Grants

Following is a listing of Medical Assistance Program grants approved by Vitalyst’s Board of Trustees in 2016.

Grantee	Amount
Alhambra School District	$15,000
American Academy of Pediatrics	$8,000
Area Agency on Aging (Hearing & Vision)	$67,500
Arizona Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired	$80,000
Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation	$50,000
Crossroads	$17,000
EAR Foundation	$120,000
Foundation for Blind Children	$50,000