Washington, D.C., October 9, 2007 – The American Public Health Association (APHA) today announced the 31 affiliated state and regional public health associations that will receive grant awards to build capacity and strengthen the infrastructure of their associations. The grants, totaling more than $2 million, are a part of a $5.9 million grant that APHA received from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2006.
The Kellogg Foundation grant has allowed APHA to implement the APHA Affiliate Capacity-Building Initiative. The initiative aims to build the capacity of the nation’s 53 state and regional public heath associations (APHA Affiliates) and the grassroots policy network and improve the nation’s ability to respond to new and emerging public health threats. APHA budgeted a portion of the initiative’s funds to provide the direct grants for capacity building needs, with additional funding to support technical assistance for all 53 of APHA’s Affiliates.
“Our affiliated public health associations are not only essential to the work of APHA, but they also play a crucial role in protecting public health across our nation,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of APHA. “With a variety of pressing health concerns facing Americans, it is imperative that our Affiliates have the infrastructure required to meet the needs of those in their communities. We thank the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their investment in our nation’s health.”
APHA received 40 grant applications, representing 46 state and regional Affiliates. After an extensive, competitive review process and thoughtful consideration, the following 25 applications, including two multi-Affiliate applications, were approved for funding:
- California Public Health Association - North & Southern California Public Health Association
- Colorado Public Health Association
- Connecticut Public Health Association
- Great Lakes Public Health Coalition*
- Idaho Public Health Association
- Iowa Public Health Association
- Kansas Public Health Association
- Maine Public Health Association
- Massachusetts Public Health Association
- Mississippi Public Health Association
- Montana Public Health Association
- New Mexico Public Health Association
- New York Sate Public Health Association
- North Carolina Public Health Association
- North Dakota Public Health Association
- Oklahoma Public Health Association
- Oregon Public Health Association
- Pennsylvania Public Health Association
- Rhode Island Public Health Association
- South Carolina Public Health Association
- South Dakota Public Health Association
- Utah Public Health Association
- Vermont Public Health Association
- Virginia Public Health Association
- Washington State Public Health Association
* The Great Lakes Public Health Coalition includes the public health associations of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin
APHA’s Affiliates are located in every state and the District of Columbia. California has two associations, representing the northern and southern regions of the state, and New York City has its own association in addition to one at the state level. The nation’s nongovernmental public health associations face limitations in communication, technology and other resources, which limit their ability to engage their communities to respond to new and emerging public health threats.
The new APHA initiative will help Affiliates build on their successes, including providing leadership, influencing health policy and leading community programs. The initiative will work to ensure that all 53 Affiliates have resources for basic operations, such as non-profit incorporation and communication tools; expand Affiliates’ ability to educate policy-makers on public health issues; and enhance APHA-Affiliate and Affiliate-Affiliate communications.
Learn more about APHA.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 “to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations.” To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology; capitalizing on diversity; and social and economic community development.
Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
For further information, please visit the Foundation’s Web site at www.wkkf.org. The site offers: in-depth information about the Foundation’s programming interests; information on the Foundation’s grant application process; a database of current grant recipients; and access to publications which report on Foundation-funded projects.