El Paso County Public Health awards 2023 Partner Engagement Grant recipients

Awards issued to partners who focus on building capacity to improve community health

El Paso County, CO – El Paso County Public Health (EPCPH) has awarded 10 community partners with funding through a new community grant opportunity which focuses on building capacity in support of public health systems serving residents throughout El Paso County.

The EPCPH 2023 Partner Engagement Grant—which focuses on strengthening community partner engagement and development—opened in early March and received a total of 43 applications. The award requests exceeded funds available for this opportunity made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce and Data Systems grant, which was awarded to EPCPH in December 2022. The awarded organizations were eligible to receive grant funding up to $36,000 (per organization) and were required to have a focus in at least one of the following areas:

1. Improve collaborative processes with behavioral health partners or provide behavioral health services.
2. Connect communities to services that support the whole person by providing robust linkages and navigation for community resources.

The grant funding, which totals $324,000, was awarded to the following El Paso County organizations:

Organization	Project Focus	Funding
Centro de la Familia	Bilingual behavioral health support	$36,000
Family Promise of COS (Interfaith Hospitality Network)	Homeless prevention services	$36,000
Home Front Military Network	Resource navigation program for Veterans	$31,553
Hope Mountain Behavioral Health	Resource navigation targeting behavioral health	$36,000
Mindfulness and Positivity Project	Teacher resiliency training	$36,000
New Directions Agape Services	Healthy food access for Southeast Colorado Springs	$36,000
Pikes Peak United Way	Sunnyside Market Manager and Life Coach support at the family success cent	$36,000
Project Angel Heart	Access to healthy food for the homebound.	$36,000
Status Code 4, Inc. (SC4i)	Behavioral health support for first responders	$30,594
Trails and Open Space Coalition	Healthy living campaign, education for outdoor access	$9,853

To set this unique cohort up for success, on May 10, EPCPH brought the grant recipients together for an interactive cohort orientation session. This kick-off meeting provided a collaborative environment for organizations to connect with EPCPH and fellow grant recipients, while sharing grant project plans and best practices to measure intended outcomes.

EPCPH Director Susan Wheelan, M.B.A, shared opening remarks at the launch session, noting, “This innovative approach is focused on the importance of building the public health system to improve community health collectively through strategic partnerships. It’s a phenomenal opportunity to evaluate activities and demonstrate meaningful outcomes throughout El Paso County.”

To provide a strong framework to guide participants, Dr. Tatiana Bailey, executive director of Data-Driven Economic Strategies, led a discussion of the goals for this innovative cohort model. Dr. Bailey will be working closely with the cohort of grantees to recognize synergies across the different organizations, while supporting partners in capitalizing on these opportunities and measuring the success of outcomes and grant activities.

EPCPH will continue to explore sources of potential future funding to expand partner grant opportunities and support the vital local organizations who are working to enhance the public health system.

For more information on the 2023 El Paso County Public Health Partner Engagement Grant, please visit the El Paso County Public Health website.

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Photo courtesy of El Paso County Public Health: Recipients of the Partner Engagement Grant participate in a cohort launch session at El Paso County Public Health on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.