Stratis Health Board of Directors and staff nominate organizations and projects to receive Building Healthier Communities grants. The awards align with Stratis Health’s mission and vision, advance Stratis Health’s work and relationships, benefit the community, and focus on Minnesota organizations. Since 2007, Stratis Health has awarded over 60 grants totaling more than $900,000.
Current recipients
Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul – Department of Indian Work
Award: $20,000
Program: Family Education Diabetes Series
The Family Education Diabetes Series (FEDS) program engages low-income, urban-dwelling American Indians with diabetes and their families in active education and fellowship forums. It also supports active monitoring of weight/BMI (Body Mass Index), blood pressure, and blood sugar. The Department of Indian Work provides a safe, Indigenous space to empower American Indians towards self-determination while respecting cultural and spiritual diversity. In Minnesota, American Indian adults have the highest rate of age-adjusted diabetes (19.3%).
Minnesota Perinatal Quality Collaborative
Award: $10,000
Program: Linking Identification & Navigation for Perinatal Mental Health & Substance Use Care (LINK) Initiative
The Minnesota Perinatal Quality Collaborative (MNPQC) improves pregnancy care for families before, during, and after birth, improving health care inequities while facilitating communication statewide. The Linking Identification & Navigation for Perinatal Mental Health & Substance Use Care (LINK) Initiative highlights mental health and perinatal substance use disorders as significant contributors to maternal morbidity and mortality in Minnesota. The program aims to enhance perinatal care by improving identification and referrals for treatment, managing perinatal disorders, reducing infants’ hospital stays from opioid exposure, and promoting collaboration among hospital teams.
Neighborhood House
Award: $10,000
Program: Listening Sessions for the Montreal Avenue Location
Neighborhood House has been and continues to be a welcoming presence for thousands of refugees, immigrants, and others in transition or crisis. The organization is a full-service hub for those seeking assistance with basic needs, from food to housing, and it helps create future opportunities through family coaching and education programming. A series of year-long listening sessions for the community in St. Paul surrounding the new Neighborhood House located on Montreal Avenue will enable the organization to better meet needs and offer a more dignified experience as they design comprehensive services in and with primarily Karen and Eritrean communities.
Special Olympics Minnesota
Award: $15,000
Program: Health Screenings for People with Intellectual Disabilities
Special Olympics is tackling the inactivity, stigma, isolation, and injustice that people with intellectual disabilities (ID) face. Through free health screenings, they train future health care providers to provide the best health care for individuals with IDs. Individuals with an ID die an average of 16 years earlier than the general population, not due to their ID but due to inadequate health care access and services. This program helps the health care system to be more welcoming and inclusive to those with ID, addressing gaps in education and training for health professionals.
Past recipients
| ACT on Alzheimer’s (2016) | Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety (2019) |
| Aitkin/Crosby Communities (2017) | Minnesota Association of Geriatrics Inspired Clinicians (2017) |
| Appetite for Change (2017) | Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance (2014) |
| Annex Teen Clinic (2022) | Minnesota Diabetes Collaborative (2008) |
| CardioVision 2020 (2009) | Minnesota Diabetes and Heart Health Collaborative (2014) |
| Care Providers of Minnesota (2019) | Minnesota Health Literacy Partnership (2007) |
| CaringBridge (2015) | Minnesota Network of Hospice and Palliative Care (2012) |
| Center for Community Health (2017) | Minnesota Rural Health Association (2016) |
| Center for Population Health (2013) | Minnesota Shared Decision-Making Collaborative (2010) |
| CHI St. Gabriel’s Health (2019) | Minnesota Veterans Home (2017) |
| Circle in the Field (2019) | Multilingual Health Resources Exchange (2012) |
| East Metro Coordination of Care Post-Acute Care Mental Health Workgroup (2018) |
National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) (2015) |
| Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital (2024) | Native American Community Clinic (2022) |
| Evidence to Practice Program (2008) | The Paramedic Foundation (2016) |
| Face-to-Face Adolescent Health Clinic (2016) | Perham Memorial Hospital and Home (2008) |
| Fruit and Veggie Rx Program (2018) | Pillsbury United Communities (2022) |
| Gray Matter’s “Doula Write Thing” (2022) | Raices Sagradas Community Mental Health (2024) |
| Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate (2024) | Senior Community Services (2016) |
| Hue-Man Partnership (2022) | Time Critical Care Committee (2014) |
| Institute for Nursing Quality (October 2007) | University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality and Healing (2013) |
| Keane Sense of Rhythm (2019) | University of Minnesota School of Nursing (2012) |
| Mankato ACT on Alzheimer’s (2017) | White Earth Nation (2014) |
| Mi CASA (2024) | Winona Community Health HUB (2024) |
| Minnesota Action Coalition (MAC) (2024) |