We know that the most effective ways to influence health are by addressing the root causes of inequalities. HCF works to impact existing structures and policies to create more opportunities for communities to have a voice at the table where decisions are made. Some of our investment strategies include (but are not limited to):

• Fostering greater alignment, coordination, and collaboration among agencies to be more responsive, effective, and adaptive to community health needs
• Affecting legislation or policies adopted by school districts, housing, transportation, and other institutions that can influence individual and community health outcomes
• Cultivating grassroots leadership, conduct community organizing, and/or influence institutions to be more inclusive, responsive, and equitable in access to resources, opportunities, and power

For this grantmaking cycle, HCF seeks to invest in efforts that contribute to community-driven and/or community-specific research, data collection, and analysis. Such efforts should investigate, disseminate, and otherwise contribute to field of local health. We will consider efforts that:

• Collect health/other data on populations affected by health disparities
• Improve health data collection
• Disseminate health disparity data and/or evaluation results
• In future grant cycles we aim to invest in and contribute to local opportunities for learning, organizational stability, program quality, and growth through capacity building and technical assistance. We will seek community stakeholder input and ideas to help us develop future capacity building initiatives

HCF understands that overall health is deeply influenced by where we live, learn, work, and play. Aspects of everyday life such as housing, jobs, education, transportation, and outdoor space can influence health outcomes. Investment efforts in the social determinants of health include:

• Strengthen trust, connections, and opportunities between individuals, communities, and institutions to promote better health outcomes
• Influence aspects of residents’ lives that influence health, such as housing, economic well-being, education, and transportation
• Community safety efforts, including violence prevention, criminal justice reform, and better opportunities for re-entry among ex-offenders
• Focus on parenting and early childhood to improve parenting skills, promote healthy living and learning environments, and increase access to high quality prenatal and childcare.

HCF recognizes that high quality, comprehensive health care services are often out of reach for residents in our region. Common barriers to timely care can include high costs, inadequate or no insurance coverage, lack of available services, long wait times, and lack of culturally competent care. Access efforts can include:

• Expanding numbers served by current programs/services
• Adding new programs/services to meet increased demands, urgent/unanticipated issues, and/or changing demographic needs
• Incorporating evidence-based practices into services and/or community outreach and engagement
• Providing culturally competent approaches to service delivery and community engagement, including assessments, data collection, training, translations, and/or other activities