THE MICHIGAN Department of Community Health (MDCH) today announced the recipients of Michigan’s Health Innovation Grant. A priority for Governor Rick Snyder and MDCH, this is the second year that Michigan has awarded these grants to improve the delivery of health services in Michigan. The 44 one-time projects will each receive up to $35,000 in funding.

MDCH will award funding for 44 projects across the state for a total of $1,346,993 in grants. The Health Innovation Grants are intended to encourage creative approaches to helping bridge the gap between creative, collaborative ideas and their implementation. Michigan is looking to encourage innovative advances in health care that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of health services in the state.

The Corner Health Center requested funding “to empower youth to adopt healthy lifestyle modifications through small step behavior changes in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, tobacco cessation and stress reduction.” The state granted $28,000 for the program.

The Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) of Washtenaw County at Alpha House requested funding to “efficiently provide health assessments and referrals to families with children living in emergency shelters” and received $35,000.

Ozone House received $31,125 to fund a program to “positively impact the safety, health and productivity of homeless and runaway youth in Michigan.”

“As a department, we are pleased to have had so many Michigan organizations engage in this process by proposing innovative ways to enhance our health system,” said Nick Lyon, director of the MDCH. “Given the quality of applicants, selecting the finalists was not easy, but we are confident that this year’s funding recipients will help improve the effectiveness of healthcare and the health of Michigan residents.”

Through the Health Innovation Grants, the projects are able to address many of Michigan’s public health priorities in creative ways to impact the future health of the state and its residents. Included in this year’s awardees were projects aimed at addressing services for children with autism, chronic disease, health transportation, behavioral health, substance abuse, homelessness, health disparities in children, dental care, and much more.

The request for proposal (RFP) was originally announced in August, and applications were due September 22. Last year, the first year the grants were awarded, 50 projects received funding for a total of $1.25 million. Last year’s awardees were able to apply again this year to support replication projects resulting from completed 2014 projects.

Organizations were encouraged to include matching funds in their proposal in support of their proposed initiative. The projects reported a total matching amount of $2.56 million for a total impact of $3.9 million in the state of Michigan.