The Healthy Gorge Initiative now has an online form available to individuals and organizations who would like to request support from Paul Lindberg, Collective Impact Health Specialist (aka "Community Grantwriter").
The Collective Impact Health Specialist role was created several years ago. In 2013, Providence Hood River Memorial Hospital was reconsidering its role as community partner. Members of Providence’s then-Mission Outreach & Community Health Advisors (MOCHA) committee had become frustrated with the number of grant opportunities the Gorge community was missing without even stepping up to the plate to take a swing. So, they did what we typically do in the Gorge, they concocted an entirely untried and innovative idea. They thought it would be a good idea to hire a ‘community grantwriter.’
They named this role Collective Impact Health Specialist (CIHS) and designed it to provide grantwriting support to agencies in the Columbia Gorge that are working to address community-identified needs. Since 2013, this model has helped develop more than 50 new, collaborations and secured more than $11 million in grant funds.
In order for the CIHS to work on a project, the idea must meet the following criteria:
~ address a need identified in the Community Health Improvement Plan
~ include three or more partners (including lead agency)
The form is located under the "Learning" tab on our website. You can also find it here.