The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, the largest grantmaking organization focused exclusively on advancing the health and well-being of New Yorkers, today announced it has awarded 539 grants totaling $208 million to support nonprofit organizations and initiatives to meet community health needs and achieve equitable health outcomes across New York State. With this new round of grants, the Foundation surpasses $1 billion in grantmaking since its first year of operation in 2019, resulting in over 3,000 grants to New Yorkers most in need.

The new grants reflect investments in the Foundation’s core program areas: access to healthcare, basic needs like food and housing, healthcare workforce, and mental and behavioral health. Grantees serve children, older adults, immigrants, new parents, veterans, justice involved individuals, and other underserved populations. This year, the Foundation dedicated more than $17 million to fund an area of focus within each of the core programs: maternal health, childhood hunger, immigrants in the healthcare workforce, and the mental health of older adults in rural areas.

“We are humbled by the wide-ranging impact our grantmaking has made in just six years, and most importantly, by the dedication of our grantee partners to improve the health of the people of New York State,” said Monsignor Gregory Mustaciuolo, Chief Executive Officer, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.“These new grants mark a significant milestone in our work and reaffirm our commitment to be responsive to emerging health challenges facing the most vulnerable children and adults in our communities.”

New priority focus areas and grantees include:

$5.4 million towards integrating immigrants into the healthcare workforce by fostering career pathways for underemployed and underutilized immigrants to promote career mobility and address the State’s healthcare workforce shortage, which will result in improved culturally and linguistically appropriate care to the State’s diverse population.

Funded programs include: Sunnyside Community Services’ Home Health Aide program based in Queens, which provides a career ladder into healthcare for unemployed individuals, primarily immigrant women; and Le Moyne College’s Healthcare Advancement Resource Center in Syracuse, which helps individuals with international medical training obtain the credentials and training needed to work in the local healthcare sector.

$4.1 million towards combatting childhood hunger by improving nutrition and reducing hunger through support of interventions that maximize enrollment and participation in Universal Free School Meals, SNAP, and WIC.

Funded programs include: GrowNYC, which distributes healthy, regionally-grown food in underserved New York City neighborhoods and allows for the use of SNAP and nutrition incentives at sites; Foodlink, which provides free or subsidized healthy, locally sourced food to low-income residents in the Rochester region; and Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens’ Center for Pregnant Women, which helps mothers access services and resources during pregnancy and after birth, including enrollment in SNAP and WIC.

$3.8M towards improving maternal health outcomes to help ensure that the birthing experience is safe for all mothers in New York, especially for those impacted by health disparities correlated with race, income, and other factors by bolstering the quality and capacity of support available during the prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum phases of care.

Funded programs include: OB Academy at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, which will establish a training program for nurses to improve maternal health outcomes for low-income mothers; Catholic Guardian Services’ Parenting Resource Center in Central Harlem, which provides programs designed to reduce maternal and infant mortality in underserved communities; and Maimonides Medical Center, which supports the provision of integrated developmental, mental health, and behavioral health supports for families at its Brooklyn Parenting Center.

$3.7M towards addressing the mental health of rural older adults to maximize the functioning, health, well-being, and active health span of this community through mental and behavioral health initiatives.

Funded programs include: Lifespan of Greater Rochester’s recovery and wellness intervention programs that support older adults with substance abuse disorders in the Finger Lakes Region, Yeshiva University’s work to assess the impact of Self-help’s Virtual Senior Center that aims to reduce social isolation and improve mental health of homebound older adults; and St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, which is utilizing funding to make improvements to the safety and services provided by its geropsychiatry and behavioral health units.

For a complete list and breakdown of the new Mother Cabrini Health Foundation grantees, click here.

“We’re celebrating not just the $1 billion investment milestone, but the expansion of vital services and life-changing programs that benefit millions of New Yorkers statewide,” said Jennifer Balbach, Finance Committee Chair, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Board and Partner at Summer Street Capital Partners in Buffalo. “Our grantees are the drivers of this important work, and the Foundation will continue to play a role in ensuring they have the resources they need to succeed and improve the health of our communities each day.”

“Since its founding, the Foundation has remained grounded in community and purpose, ensuring that each grant cycle spans all of New York State and benefits vulnerable New Yorkers across populations and needs,” said Kathryn Ruscitto, Regional Grants Committee Chair, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation Board and former President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health in Syracuse. “We’re proud of this milestone moment and celebrate the organizations on the front lines who work tirelessly to serve their communities, as well as the amazing team at the Foundation whose commitment to service will keep inspiring this work for years to come.”

The selection process for the newly announced grants began in Spring 2024, when the Foundation invited organizations to apply for funding through an open process, receiving over 1,500 letters of interest from returning grantees and new organizations, resulting in its highest number of multi-year grants to date. The Foundation also recently announced its new Nursing Initiative, a grant program created to support safety net hospitals across the State that provide a significant amount of care to high-need populations. The selected hospitals will be announced in Spring 2025 and will each receive up to $5 million to pursue nursing accreditation pathways, as well as implement or expand virtual nursing and nurse residency programs.