Community organizations have the trust of those they serve and understand what it takes to reduce barriers to OUD prevention, treatment, and recovery. Yet, these groups often struggle to find the flexible funding needed to maintain their operations or build partnerships that extend their work. Requests may relate to one of the following activities or may propose other activities:

• Conducting organizational assessments to identify needs and design a plan to increase organizational effectiveness that will help meet current challenges, overcome barriers, and result in intentional and productive enhancements in OUD service delivery
• Enhancing operational effectiveness to improve productivity and organizational functioning in areas such as administration, finance, human resources, and technology
• Strengthening communication efforts to raise awareness about an organization’s mission and attract attention and resources to the organization
• Expanding and stabilizing resources to develop financial stability by increasing the CBO’s ability to develop necessary resources and plan for longer-term sustainability, including the ability to apply for foundation, corporate support, and/or government funding streams
• Strengthening and evaluating programming to enhance access and delivery of OUD services to more individuals and families in their communities
• Fostering collaborations with a broader range of allies — e.g., child welfare, women and families, education, workforce, law enforcement, criminal justice, and primary and behavioral health entities — to strengthen community engagement that results in stronger and expanded services

This funding opportunity is limited to community-based organizations. These include organizations providing a range of social- and/or health-related services within a given geographic area, Recovery Community Organizations, and community coalitions/partnerships. Applicant organizations must be a 501(c)3 organization (or non-profit with appropriate 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor). Academic institutions, health care systems, and national organizations are ineligible, though they may partner with a CBO as long as the CBO is the lead applicant and recipient of the majority of requested funds.

The foundation invites applications for its fall 2022 grants, which will be awarded in support of programs and organizations that directly benefit those who live and work in one of the 25 Massachusetts communities served by the foundation, including Ashland, Bellingham, Dover, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Medfield, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millis, Natick, Needham, Norfolk, Northborough, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland, Wellesley, and Westborough. The foundation has identified the following grantmaking initiatives: 

Addressing Emotional Health and Resilience of Children and Youth: Grants of up to $50,000 per year for up to two years will be awarded to schools and youth-serving agencies for efforts to promote emotional health and resilience and address disparities in girls’ mental health.

Addressing Community Public Health Issues: Grants of up to $30,000 for one year with the potential for renewal will be awarded in support of community organizing to address larger public health issues, coalition building, and/or collaborative planning. 

Responsive: Grants of up to $20,000 will be awarded in support of new and emerging health issues (including but not limited to addressing vaccine hesitancy or barriers, new patterns or trends in substance use in the region, and the health needs of recently-arrived immigrants) and capacity-building activities (including but not limited to workforce recruitment, training, and retention; strategic planning; data collection and evaluation activities; and enhanced efforts to reach hard-to-serve populations).

To be eligible, applicants must be tax-exempt as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or recognized as instruments of state or local government and directly benefit those who live and work in one of the 25 communities identified by the foundation.

The foundation requires applicants to submit a one-page concept paper plus a logic model before a full proposal, due September 30, 2022. Concept papers help the foundation assess whether the proposed project is aligned with its funding priorities. Upon review, full proposals will be due October 13, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. ET.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Metrowest Health Foundation website.

The Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood supports development projects and promising research to significantly enhance physical and mental health, safety, nutrition, play, familial support, acculturation, social integration, and/or child care from birth through seven years.

To that end, the foundation invites letters of intent in the following categories: 

Early Childhood Welfare: According to the foundation, children can only reach their full potential when all intellectual, emotional, and physical aspects of their development are optimally supported. Providing a safe and nurturing environment is essential, as is imparting  social living skills in a culturally diverse world. To that end, the foundation supports projects that aim to perfect child-rearing practices and identify models that can provide creative, caring environments in which all young children thrive.

Early Childhood Education and Play: Research shows that children need to be stimulated and nurtured early to succeed in school, work, and life. That preparation relates to every aspect of a child’s development and everywhere a child learns—at home, in childcare settings, and in preschool. The foundation aims to improve the quality of early childhood teaching by developing innovative curricula and research-based pedagogical standards and designing imaginative play materials and learning environments. 

Parenting Education: The foundation supports programs that teach parents about developmental psychology, cultural child-rearing differences, pedagogy, health issues, prenatal care and diet, and programs that provide cognitive and emotional support to parents.

Letters of intent must be received no later than September 30, 2022, and selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application.

For complete program guidelines and application procedures, see the Caplan Foundation website.

Through Together We RIZE, we will mark our milestone fifth anniversary by funding bold, community-driven projects and initiatives that have the potential to bend the curve of the overdose crisis. RIZE will make funding available for five one-year grants of up to $100,000.

We invite you to share your best ideas to end the stigma associated with addiction, keep people safe from overdose, and ensure that anyone who wants it has access to quality care no matter who they are or where they live. We will focus on projects that:

• Catalyze effective interventions
• Generate and disseminate knowledge, and
• Inform and inspire bold partnerships to drive solutions forward

Through the HEAL Initiative, NIH requests applications for studies designed to develop and test sustainable, scalable interventions to prevent opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and co-occurring mental health conditions by intervening directly on social determinants of health (SDOH). This initiative aims to build an evidence base for preventive interventions that address inequities, social risks and/or social disadvantage. Interventions targeting social determinants may be structural (e.g. policy, regulatory, or systemic-wide changes) or designed to alter outcomes of individuals affected by contextual risk factors, and may be implemented in conjunction with psychosocial interventions designed to address behavioral risks.