Today, the Horizon Foundation announced that they awarded $2.07 million in grants to 55 community organizations in 2022 as part of its mission to improve health and wellness for people who live or work in Howard County, Md. The grants focus on advancing the Foundation’s three strategic priorities – ensuring a more equitable community, promoting healthy kids and families and encouraging healthy aging – including emphasizing mental health for both children and adults.
“All of our grantees work incredibly hard to make our Howard County a healthier and more equitable place,” said Nikki Highsmith Vernick, president and CEO of the Horizon Foundation. “Especially as the Foundation builds towards a new strategic plan this year, I am very proud of the partnerships we have fostered with our grantees to help make progress in our community. Together, we will help make good health achievable for everyone in Howard County.”
The full list of grantees and grant amounts is included below.
ENSURING A MORE EQUITABLE COMMUNITY
Bridges to Housing Stability; Columbia Housing Center; Springboard Community Services; and United Way of Central Maryland: $75,000 each (total of $300,000) to continue to apply a racial equity lens to their work, collaborate on a joint equity-related policy campaign and build power to advance racial equity issues that matter to them and their communities. These grants cover their second year of participation in the Howard County Equity Collaborative.
CASA: $110,000 total (two separate grants of $75,000 and $35,000) to continue its organizing and advocacy efforts to reach, educate and mobilize the County’s growing Latino and immigrant community around issues including implementation of the County’s new Maternity Partnership Program, expanding access to quality affordable healthcare at the local and state levels and advancing other issues related to immigration, equity and social determinants of health.
Equity4HC: $20,000 to advance a housing policy issue campaign that will appropriate allocation of resources to Black first-time home buyers within the housing trust fund initiative.
Howard County Chinese School: $30,000 to support Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) curriculum policy campaign work in the public school system.
Howard County Library System: $35,500 to support events to raise community awareness around racial equity issues.
People Acting Together in Howard (PATH): $35,000 to support its work in Foundation priority areas including equity, chronic disease and mental health.
PROMOTING HEALTHY KIDS & FAMILIES
African American Community Roundtable of Howard County; Continental Societies Inc, Columbia Chapter; JustLiving Advocacy, Inc.; Korean-American Senior Association of Howard County; Lindaben Foundation Inc; Mt. Hebron High School PTSA; Patapsco Middle School PTA and; Peiying Chinese School: $50,000 total to help fight diabetes and improve access to healthier food options in Howard County through policy and systems change.
Community Action Council of Howard County: $47,805 to support staff mental and behavioral wellness programming, in addition to the continuation of student and parent wellness programming.
Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center: $15,000 to continue offering QPR and Mental Health First Aid Trainings to the community free of charge.
Howard County Public School System: $430,000 to continue providing students with mental health/well-being supports through a school-based service model.
Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi): $125,000 to support Sugar Free Kids Maryland in its statewide efforts to reduce sugary drink consumption and build community advocacy power. Sugar Free Kids continues to support Howard County policy initiatives to reduce sugary drink consumption.
States Newsroom: $20,000 for Maryland Matters to continue expanding news coverage of public health issues at both the state and local levels.
ENCOURAGING HEALTHY AGING
Asian American Healthcare Center Inc.; Chesapeake Down Syndrome Parent Group; Chinese American Parent Association of Howard County; Howard County Autism Society; Howard County Housing Commission; Mt. Hebron High School PTSA; National Family Resiliency Center; Patapsco Middle School PTA; The Columbia Orchestra of Howard County, Inc.; Volunteers of America Chesapeake Inc: $15,000 total to help protect and support mental wellbeing and help build and strengthen our resilience as a community.
Building Families for Children Inc: $21,700; HC Drug Free: $15,000; HopeWorks of Howard County: $15,000; Howard County Police Department: $7,465; My Covenant Place: $30,000; NAMI Howard County: $5,000; Players for Philanthropy Fund, on behalf of Alston for Athletes: $30,000 to implement long-term solutions that will help protect and support mental wellbeing and help build and strengthen our physical, personal and/or social resilience as a community.
Behavioral Health System Baltimore: $65,000 to support campaign planning of MD988 Fund, which aims to establish dedicated funding to support the continuum of behavioral health crisis services and the decriminalization of behavioral health.
Columbia Festival of the Arts: $20,000 to produce an Interactive Community Exhibit for CFA LakeFest and additional display.
Mental Health Association of Maryland: $40,000 to continue to support legislative efforts to enact reforms that will address widespread unmet mental health and substance use needs.
Howard County General Hospital: $200,000 to support the hospital’s patient care pavilion and physical plant renovation.
Sheppard Pratt: $225,000 to support the operation of an urgent care behavioral health clinic. This is the second year of a two-year grant awarded in partnership with United Way of Central Maryland ($450,000 joint total).
The Foundation also awarded $170,000 in Community Opportunity Grants in 2022. For more information about our grantmaking, visit thehorizonfoundation.org/grants.
