St. David's Foundation announces new funding to help increase health care access

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- On Wednesday, St. David's Foundation announced new funding opportunities that will help increase access to health care in Central Texas, St. David's said in a news release.

The Community Driven Change and We All Benefit are two of those opportunities awarded grant money to help eligible organizations that "foster healthy communities," the release said.

The Community Driven Change open call was awarded up to $10 million. The funds help other organizations by engaging with the community and leadership in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties, according to St. David's Foundation.

Those organizations that are eligible must have an annual operating budget of at least $250,000 and should also be able to engage the community and be able to "effectively support" those individuals and families to "improve their health and wellness," the release said.

The We All Benefit open call was awarded up to $8 million. The funds will go to organizations that are "currently enrolling eligible Central Texans in health insurance benefits," like Medicaid, CHIP and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the release said.

St. David's Foundation said this open call was in response to "recent Medicaid disenrollment." This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people, many of them children, losing their health insurance.

"These funding opportunities demonstrate the evolution of our grantmaking efforts to ensure that our investments are impactful and offer a more equitable process as we expand and deepen our working relationships to advance health equity," Edward Burger, Ph.D., President and CEO of St. David’s Foundation, said in the release.

Any organization interested in applying for funding can do so by June 28. To learn more information about the funding opportunities, visit the St. David's Foundation website.