The Richmond Health Equity Fund (HEF) is now accepting applications for its 2025 funding cycle. The application period will remain open until March 30, 2025.
The HEF seeks to fill gaps in funding and resources for vital, innovative, and impactful initiatives that serve the Richmond City community. Richmond-based single organizations and collaboratives providing services in the following health disparity focus areas—along with other emergent health outcomes where Richmond’s populations have disparate burdens—are all eligible to apply:
- Access to healthcare and health education resources
- Chronic disease and underlying health conditions
- Food access and security
- Maternal and child health
- Mental and behavioral health
Applications may be accessed here or by visiting the HEF website: https://rhphf.org/health-equity-fund/. Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) provides updates about the HEF through its monthly newsletter.
Funding decisions will be made through collaboration among the RHPHF Board, HEF Program Officer and Community Advisory Committee (CAC). A group of local community members with a combination of professional and lived experience with health disparities, the CAC evaluates partner organizations and identifies gaps in the application pool for consideration during future funding cycles. The HEF will host an optional virtual information session for those organizations interested in applying at 12 p.m., Wednesday, March 12.
In October 2021, Richmond City Council voted to establish the first-ever Health Equity Fund (HEF) in the City of Richmond through an initial investment of $5 million from federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. With the support and leadership of City Administration and the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD), the HEF was established under the Richmond and Henrico Public Health Foundation (RHPHF), the nonprofit arm of RHHD. Since then, the HEF has selected 36 partners for funding that serve Richmond residents experiencing deep health disparities and the longstanding impacts of racism. The HEF has designated over $3.8 million of investments to-date in initiatives that address these historic inequities and will continue to award new projects to support strong, thriving communities across the city.