Community Innovation Grants

Contractors must meet the following requirements to be eligible for a contract award for this project:

• Applicants must be an organization registered with the Minnesota Secretary of State or have a relationship with a fiscal agent.  If you use a fiscal agent, you must provide the fiscal agent’s name, contact information, and a letter of support from the fiscal agent. 
   
• Eligible organizations may receive funding from the Community Innovation Grants for Racial and Health Equity once per calendar year per project.

Each organization may only submit one application and may only select one priority area below. However, the application can focus on multiple categories of activities within the selected priority area.

As a direct response to SPRCPH’s current Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP), the Community Innovation Grants for Racial and Health Equity program will support community organizations with projects and activities based on one or more of the CHIP priority areas:

• Racial and health equity. 
• Healthy eating, active living and tobacco-free living.
• Access to health care services.
• Mental health and well-being.
• Violence prevention.

Proposals will be accepted for the following activity categories:

1. Capacity building: examples include start-up costs, resources and supplies, client or community relationship development strategies.

2. Planning and development: examples include community outreach, program design activities, service launch, scoping and refining program or project concept, training.

3. Implementation: examples include programs, services and activities related to the identified CHIP priority.

4. Evaluation: examples include designing the evaluation, satisfaction surveys, process evaluation (“How much did we do?”), outcome evaluation (“Is anyone better off?”).

Applications are screened for eligibility. Awards are determined by the availability of county funds, the number of eligible applicants and evaluations of each proposal. Submission of this application does not guarantee funding, and no work can begin until expenditure grant agreements have been fully signed by the grantee and the county.

Grantees must:

• Complete all sections of the application form.
• Provide services to or support programming that benefits Ramsey County residents.
• Revise work plan details per feedback from county staff. Complete activities per the agreed upon work plan and timeline.
• Participate in ongoing monitoring activities and informational training as necessary provided by the county which may include, but is not limited to, check-in calls, meetings and technical assistance.
• Monitor subcontractors if subcontractors are part of the approved scope of work.
• Maintain financial records through an accounting system which sufficiently and properly reflects all revenue received and all direct and indirect costs of the agreed upon work plan as determined by the county. All financial transactions must have supporting documentation.
• Submit monthly invoices that include receipts and supporting documentation for all expenditures.
• Submit up to four written reports to the county liaison. The submission schedule will be determined with each contractor. The reports will become the property of the county.

Below are examples of what may be included in performance measures or outcomes reporting, but are not limited to:

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

• Terms and conditions (PDF).
• Presentation from the information sessions (PDF).
• Questions and answers (PDF).

Responses should be emailed to [email protected] by May 24 at 11:59 p.m.