Four Berkshire Organizations Awarded DEIB Grants
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Health New England has awarded $80,000 in grants to non-profit organizations that work to advance youth health and well-being in Western Massachusetts.
The company's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Grants went to 38 organizations in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester counties.
In Berkshire County these organizations were awarded funding:
- Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield), Playwright Mentoring Program
- Berkshire Bounty (Great Barrington), Food Purchase Program
- Berkshire Pride (Pittsfield), Empowerment and Well-being: After-School Program for LGBTQ+ Teens & Tweens
- Roots Rising (Pittsfield), Roots Rising's Youth Crews
Health New England's DEIB mission is to improve the health and lives of people as it applies to individuals of all races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and levels of ability.
Health New England's DEIB Grants are designed to fund local non-profit organizations that focus on health equity and engage around at least one social determinant of health (SDOH). SDOHs are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that affect health, quality of life, and life expectancy. These conditions may include socioeconomic status, food insecurity, education, access to health care, safe housing, discrimination, violence, and trauma, etc.
Health New England focused this year's DEIB grants on youth health and well-being after a Springfield Public Schools Youth Health Survey revealed that more than four in ten surveyed eighth-grade students felt so sad or hopeless for two weeks or more that they stopped participating in some usual activities. The grant winners' programs and projects must also assist youths and adolescents gain what the World Health Organization's Adolescent Well-being Framework states they need to thrive:
- Good health and optimum nutrients
- Connectedness, positive values, and contribution to society
- Safety and a supportive environment
- Learning, competence, education, skills, and employability
- Agency and resilience
