Mid-Iowa Health Foundation (MIHF) has over a 30-year history of fostering innovation and being a learning organization. Direct service and core nonprofit support via traditional grant making is and will always be a hallmark of MIHF. That said, in a time of extreme change in the health sector new approaches are likely warranted to achieve different system-level impacts and changes. So much of the attention on health is focused on access to care. This is not wrong, but having an insurance card in your wallet isn’t the only measure of health. Social determinants of health, particularly for children, is a lens that forces you to look for intersections with other sectors – education, housing, work force, hunger, public safety, etc – and support new solutioning. Health may command nearly one-sixth of the gross domestic product, but an overwhelming majority of that pays for health care delivery. Again, incredibly important, but we need to look for upstream ways to impact health in preventive and proactive ways through unique, unnatural partnerships to give voice to other types of investments that positively impact health status and communities. The methodology around County Health Rankings (http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/our-approach) amplifies this more clearly. Clinical care is pivotal, but also about 20% of their overall weighting of factors impacting overall health outcomes. Other community sectors and factors have a profound impact.
It is from this perspective that MIHF Board and staff alike challenged ourselves to create the HealthConnect Fellowship Initiative. Through this effort, we’re intentionally supporting seasoned and emerging community leaders to have the time, structure, resources, coaching and tools to make an even greater difference in community. Again, this is designed to work within and across sectors to advance creative problem solving and community leadership skill development with the hope of advancing system-level changes impacting health. Though we can’t guarantee success with this type of cocooning support, we’re anxious to try this much more engaged and intentionally deeper level of commitment to individuals and organizations poised to make profound change. We will learn valuable lessons from HealthConnect that we envision shaping our philanthropic work and voice for years to come.
Advocates connect through a shared commitment to improve health outcomes.
Amal Barre's research and advocacy efforts address housing instability and the sense of belonging in the community.
Working together to improve housing is leading to better health outcomes.
An incentive program has provided a model for increasing access to nutritious foods and improving health outcomes.
DMU is transforming the way health sciences education is delivered.
A needs assessment of Oakridge Neighborhood residents is informing ways to improve health and well-being
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An Iowa Doula Project is expanding community-based health care to improve Black maternal health outcomes.
How AMOS engaged hundreds of advocates to push for a children's mental health crisis response system
How support to Iowa Public Radio is building awareness of factors that influence well-being
MercyOne's community health worker model improves outcomes for families.
The Vision Council has led conversations on how Iowa's families and children can be safe, secure, healthy, and well in our communities.
Outcomes from Mid-Iowa Health Foundation's HealthConnect Fellowship, October 2019-June 2021
How nonprofit leaders brought attention to the Latinx community and built new systems of support during the pandemic
dsm Magazine features a unique collaboration that is engaging youth who’ve experienced homelessness in identifying new solutions to address this issue in central Iowa.
Iowa ACEs 360 shares this story about how supervisors in the Polk County Dept. of Human Services’ Child Welfare Division are addressing trauma in their workforce.
Teenagers in jumpsuits lying on yoga mats, their eyes closed, their bodies still. This is the image Megan Hoxhalli describes as remarkable for juvenile detention, a place where youth arrive shaken, dysregulated, and scared about their future.
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