Integra Community Care Network announces a new initiative to address health equity issues in the communities we serve. The Integra Social Partnerships Initiative for Community Engagement & Equity (I-SPICEE) will support the planning, piloting, and evaluation of community-based projects that help ensure all Rhode Islanders have a fair and just opportunity to be healthy.
The Integra Social Partnerships Initiative for Community Engagement and Equity (I-SPICEE) is an opportunity for us to partner with CBOs to address health equity issues among the populations we serve.
Integra seeks to fund up to three partnerships over an 18-month project period from September 2023 to March 2025. Selected partnerships will collaborate with Integra to implement strategies to address health equity issues through projects that integrate community engagement. We are asking for CBOs to share their expertise by telling us what problems need to be addressed for the populations that Integra serves and what solutions are likely to work.
Successful proposals will identify a health equity issue of significance, identify a strategy to make a change, and describe how the applicant will collaborate with Integra and directly impacted communities to enact this strategy. I-SPICEE partnerships may receive up to $125,000 each to support these activities.
A health equity issue keeps a certain community or population from having a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. For Integra, when we think of health equity issues, we include problems like:
With I-SPICEE, we are asking CBOs to name the health equity problems that are most important to the communities they serve and propose solutions that we could implement together. We invite applicants to propose strategies that fit with the strengths and needs of their own communities and draw from their expertise to identify the changes that are needed and feasible.
We invite proposals from CBOs with a physical presence, track record, community credibility, and active programming in Rhode Island. Networks or consortia, including Health Equity Zones (HEZes), are encouraged to apply. We invite organizations at all levels of technical capacity to consider this opportunity. We particularly seek organizations with leadership and roots in communities most impacted by health inequities.
Interested organizations should download the full Request for Proposals (RFP) and the application coversheet. Initial applications (in the form of a letter of intent) are due by April 27. Full details are in the RFP document.