About half-way through the first year of giving community groups state money to boost public health, the St. Joseph County Health Department is seeking partners for next year.
At the beginning of the year Republican Governor Eric Holcomb’s Health First Indiana initiative rolled out in St. Joseph County amid some controversy.
Holcomb wants to get Indiana off the bottom of national rankings for a variety of health outcomes. But some Republicans on the county council, especially after thinking the health department was too restrictive during the Covid pandemic, wanted the county to opt out of the funding. That ultimately didn’t happen, and the health department distributed $974,000 in grants to local nonprofits.
The county received $3.3 million in Health First Indiana money this year and expecs to receive $6 million for next year.
Jenna Rose is the health department’s director of community partnerships and development. Rose said groups receiving the grants are doing well after starting the year with some hiccups.
"We were a little bit behind on our key performance indicators for the goals for the grant cycle as of Quarter 1, but from what I've seen from Quarter 2, we're getting it back on track," Rose said. "So I'm excited to see how everything pans out for the rest of the year."
Organizations interested in next year’s grants are invited to a 2 p.m. event Aug. 12 at the Howard Park Conference Center. The deadline to register for the event is Aug. 9.
