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Community Responsive Grants Program

Program Description

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The 2026 Community Responsive Grants Program Letter of Inquiry Period has closed.

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Applicants may apply for either a one-year planning grant up to $30,000 or an implementation grant for one or two-years up to $50,000 per year.

Health inequities result when some groups are favored with extra resources or advantages and other groups run into barriers that result in them getting less than they need. This might have happened in the past, or may be happening now. We can move toward health equity first by identifying those barriers that some groups run into in our health systems and services, and second by working to remove them. This work can lead to health systems that are fair and just for everyone.

The Community Responsive Grants (CRG) program is based on the idea that those closest to a problem often have the best ideas about potential barriers and solutions. The purpose of this program is to use those community-led solutions to respond to community needs. These may be to address emerging opportunities, or to test new, or creative ideas. They may also be solutions that are based on the community’s experience and what it sees as the best ways to overcome the barriers to health equity it experiences.

We use the term community to refer to the specific group that is the focus of your work. While your project may help a broad range of people, for this grant program, your community means those people whose health will directly benefit from your project. This may be a group with a shared identity, a common cause, common geographic location, similar health and health access needs, or other shared experiences or characteristics. It is essential that community members identify and prioritize the health concern or issue your project will address. In addition to defining the problem, we expect that community members will have clear leadership roles, decision making power, and direct involvement throughout the project.

Projects most likely to be funded improve health equity by focusing on changing policies, practices, and perceptions that create barriers to health care and good health and align with one or more of MeHAF’s Four Goal Areas: equitable access, systems change, better health for specific groups, and shared leadership.

For information on past project funded through the CRG program, click here.

Organizational Eligibility 

A 501(c)(3), local, state, or tribal government entity or educational institution. Applicants must be organizations based in Maine. If your organization is not eligible to apply independently, and you need to apply via a fiscal sponsor, please contact MeHAF before applying so that we can assist you with the steps. Individuals and private foundations are ineligible.

Click Here to Download the RFP

Dates to Remember

Funding Guidelines

System Improvement and Innovation Responsive Grants program funding cannot not be used for:

Fiscal Sponsorship

Organizations intending to apply through a fiscal sponsor, must contact Holly Irish, Grants Manager, to discuss your situation before beginning an application. Holly will arrange a brief meeting with the sponsored organization and the fiscal sponsor to review the requirements of both organizations and ensure a mutual understanding of the steps involved in the grant process. This is a requirement that applies to all applicants intending to use fiscal sponsorship, including those that have done so for other MeHAF grants and those that have had conversations about this program with other staff.

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Please note that failure to make contact with Holly Irish in advance of submitting an LOI will disqualify any fiscally sponsored application.

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For more information about fiscal sponsorship, click here.

Helpful Resources

Questions?

For questions regarding the Community Responsive Grants program, please email Senior Program Officer Frank Nocito.

For Questions regarding MeHAF's online application system, please email Grants Manager Holly Irish.