Why Thrive Grants Matter in Morgan County

Transparency is key to building trustworthy relationships.  CFMC offers a variety of grants.  You can visit our website here to learn more about the three grants CFMC offers: https://cfmconline.org/grant-opportunities/.

We recently received a question from a community member as to how we can make a judgement for what is best for the community. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) as “Conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play,” which “affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes.” By learning more about how Morgan County residents experience each of these factors in their daily lives, CFMC can establish informed priorities and baseline metrics to guide upcoming initiatives. In 2019, we collected over 816 responses to our community survey, these responses were gathered from a variety of diverse groups with stakeholder interest in Morgan County.  Those responses led us to create an innovative approach to grant making by listening to those it impacts the most – you and your family and your neighbors.

We trust our nonprofits and civic organizations who serve Morgan County and their daily efforts to address our communities’ needs. Nonprofits who apply for CFMC’s grants are required to state the purpose of the grant, goals of the project, timeline from beginning to end, community needs addressed, other partnerships within the community that are a part of their proposed project, a plan for future maintenance and sustainability beyond initial funding, and of course financial statements to back up the health of the organization.  Lots of time, planning, and collaboration goes into building a successful grant proposal and application.  Grants are not intended to fund individuals, but rather non-profits and civic organizations who serve Morgan County residents.

Thrive grants are intended to improve quality of life through social determinants of health.  Quality of life is an overarching community development term that is defined by what keeps residents happy to live and/or work in their community.  It’s a broad term, because quality of life addresses a broad spectrum of measured health, comfort, and happiness.  Likewise, we reference social determinants of health in Thrive’s grant application because these are professional community metrics that are key indicators to measure statistical improvements overtime.  Social Determinants of Health (neighborhood environment, food and healthcare, economic stability, education, and community involvement) are measurable indicators from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and have become best practices in the world of non-profits, grant writing, and community development.

CFMC strives to enhance the quality of life for current and future generations through impact grant making.  Should you have any questions, regarding grantmaking, please don’t hesitate to call our office at 765-813-0003.