Trusted Messenger Initiative Grants

Current and former Trusted Messenger organizations may apply.

All applicants must be registered with the State of Minnesota Secretary of State. Sole proprietors and public entities are exempt from this requirement.

We screen all applications and organizations for eligibility.

The purpose of these grants is to generate and grow innovative ways to deliver a variety of public health services, resources and information and to build public health relationships within and beyond Ramsey County.

With this grant, we can improve trust and collaboration between Saint Paul — Ramsey County Public Health, Washington County Public Health, local agencies and community organizations. We can also raise resident awareness, trust and participation in programs by Ramsey County and Washington County.

We are working to serve communities including Black, brown, Asian, Native American, elderly, LGBTQIA+ and other communities marginalized by systemic racism and oppression who experience the greatest health disparities and the least health equity. The primary services include: 

Healthy Communities: The applicant collaborates with Public Health to increase awareness and access to culturally informed public health information and programs which include healthy aging, Hmong health promotion, sexual violence services, adolescent health, child and teen checkups, mental health and wellbeing. Extra effort is made to reach racially and ethnically diverse communities, immigrant families and new Minnesotans who face the greatest health inequalities, language barriers, or may be isolated from county and other community services. 

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): The applicant collaborates with Public Health to increase WIC program awareness and referrals of pregnant and postpartum women and their children so they may receive healthy food, nutrition education and lactation support. Extra effort is made to reach people early in pregnancy and multigenerational African American populations. 

Family Health and Home Visiting: The applicant collaborates with Public Health to promote equity in birth outcomes for racially and ethnically diverse communities, especially African American, Native American, Latino/x and immigrant populations. Extra effort is made to support families, fathers and other caregivers, to navigate care before and after birth and to increase cultural and community connections using a holistic approach. 

Clinical Services: The applicant collaborates with Public Health to increase awareness and access to vaccines and immunizations, tuberculosis care, sexual and reproductive health services such as HIV and STD testing and treatment, syringe services, wound care, naloxone training and outreach with people who use drugs and communities disproportionately impacted by overdose. 

Environmental Health: The applicant collaborates with Public Health to find creative ways to increase participation in food scraps collection, household hazardous waste drop-off and electronics recycling programs, especially within racially and ethnically diverse communities. They also increase awareness of the Environmental Center, the “one stop shop” for recycling and waste collection. 

Emergency Preparedness and Response: The applicant collaborates with Public Health to increase awareness and access to culturally informed public health information before, during and after public health emergencies such as localized and pandemic infectious disease outbreaks, severe weather incidents and mass casualty and fatality incidents. Extra effort is made to reach racially and ethnically diverse communities. 

Tasks and deliverables for this contract agreement:

• Complete all sections of the application form.
• Provide services to or support programming that primarily benefits Ramsey County residents but could also be offered in other targeted counties.
• Complete quarterly Trusted Messenger Reflections (reports) or surveys to communicate shared experiences and feedback to Saint Paul — Ramsey County Public Health. Information given will become the property of the county.
• Collaborate with Saint Paul — Ramsey County Public Health to develop content or resources that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for community.
• Collaborate on or revise proposed Trusted Messenger activities or workplan per feedback from public health program staff as needed. Complete activities within the grant timeline.
• Participate in regular meetings, technical assistance calls and other gatherings organized by the program coordinator.
• Submit accurate monthly invoices for reimbursement. All financial transactions must have supporting documentation.
• Monitor subcontractors you hire if subcontractors are part of the approved scope of activities.
• Provide community outreach and outcomes information to the program evaluator and work together through the term of the grant, as needed.

 Reporting requirements include but are not limited to:

• Number of Ramsey County residents, and those from other counties, served by age, race, ethnicity, location, zip code, etc.
• Description of services provided by your agency or organization.
• Description of county services that residents were linked to.
• Stories of successes, barriers or challenges.
• Stories of impact to the lives of residents that participated in this initiative (e.g., resident testimony, staff relationships, connections to services, etc.)