Healthy Communities

Through our Healthy Communities program area, the Meyer Foundation aims to build thriving communities in which low-income adults and families have access to health care and other essential services, and supports public policy changes to reduce poverty.

Our grants in the Healthy Communities program area support organizations that are working toward these outcomes:

• Health: Low-income people have access to high-quality primary care that integrates mental and behavioral health care and eliminates health disparities.

• Essential Services: Low-income people have affordable places to live, healthful food to eat, and access to services that promote health and personal safety.

• Public Policy: Local and state governments in the region have policies aimed at strengthening the safety net, reducing poverty, and improving the lives of low-income people.

What We Fund

To achieve these outcomes, the Meyer Foundation supports:

• Key health clinics in the region that provide high-quality primary care to low-income clients, focusing on those clinics with sustainable business models and those with the potential to adapt to a changing health care environment.
• Intermediary organizations playing a central role in the implementation of health care reform in Maryland, Virginia, and the District.
• Organizations whose primary mission is to prevent homelessness and move homeless people off the streets and out of shelters into safe and secure housing they can afford. We give priority consideration to organizations working with low-income families in the region, and those who track participant outcomes with quantitative and qualitative measures.
• Organizations that work to eliminate hunger and the risk of hunger among low-income people in the region by increasing access to healthful food. We give priority consideration to organizations working broadly to reduce food insecurity throughout the region, and are unlikely to fund small food pantries and food banks.
• Organizations that offer targeted services to prevent and reduce the impact of interpersonal violence in the lives of low-income people. We will give priority to organizations working to prevent and reduce the impact of child abuse, domestic violence, and rape.
• Multi-issue research and advocacy groups and coalitions that propose and advocate for policies aimed at reducing poverty and strengthening the safety net in the region. Key issue areas include creating and preserving affordable housing, ensuring access to high-quality health care, securing home rule and voting rights for the District of Columbia, and improving access to public benefits (such as TANF, food stamps, unemployment insurance, disability benefits, and the EITC.)
• Community organizing groups that provide substantive and meaningful ways for low-income residents to influence policy decisions that affect their lives, with a particular emphasis on groups that focus on poverty reduction and the safety net.

What We Do Not Fund

• Medical or scientific research
• Organizations or programs focused on a single disease or medical condition
• Capital for construction or development of housing
• Start-up housing developers
• Operating support for housing developers
• AIDS-related programs (We support these programs exclusively through the Washington AIDS Partnership)