Bloomberg American Health Initiative Awards 14 Network of Practice Grants to Advance Public Health

The Bloomberg American Health Initiative at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has recently awarded more than $400,000 in support to 14 organizations in the Initiative’s network working to address pressing public health issues across the country. These grants, also known as Network of Practice Grants, will support innovative projects that improve the health and well-being of communities across the United States.  

Each Network of Practice Grant provides up to $25,000 to support projects led by collaborating organizations of the Initiative, with a faculty adviser from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All funded projects align with one of the Initiative’s five focus areas--adolescent health, addiction and overdose, food systems for health, environmental health, or violence--and propose community-specific approaches to urgent public health challenges. 

In past years, Network of Practice Grants have supported a wide range of projects—from creating sexual violence prevention curricula for student athletes, to launching a new distribution system for fentanyl test strips in Minnesota, to identifying pressing issues within Native youth communities. This year’s funded projects will focus on bringing fresh produce to communities in need, enhancing the quality of life for pedestrians and bicyclists, and more.

All projects funded in April 2025 include:

• Adams County Health Department (CO): The Adams County Health Department, in partnership with Boulder County, will develop a patient advisory board to design a system that delivers fresh produce to pregnant people in the community.
• Center for Science in the Public Interest (National): The Center for Science in the Public Interest will analyze the impacts of privatized food service in carceral facilities, both locally and nationally.
• Central Texas Food Bank (TX): The Central Texas Food Bank will continue expanding the “Golden Harvest Farmers Market Program,” a free monthly service that provides fresh produce, social interaction, and resources to eligible older adults.
• City of Manchester Health Department (NH): The City of Manchester Health Department will focus on "Amplifying Youth Voices," and partner with a youth-led Opportunity Youth Collaborative who will advocate for policies addressing disparaties impacting young people disconnected from school and work, while launching a youth-led podcast to to share stories of resilience and opportunity.
• City of Salem (OR): The City of Salem will launch “Stride Smart: K–12 Pedestrian and Bicyclist Education Initiative” to promote safety on, and usage of, pedestrian and bicycle paths.
• Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (Northern Mariana Islands): The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation will implement a produce prescription program on the Island of Saipan to promote health in the community.
• Hawaiʻi Good Food Alliance (HI): The Hawaii Good Food Alliance will explore and test the feasibility of the Nā Manaʻo Nui framework as an indigenous evaluation tool for community-based organizations to measure the impacts of food as medicine initiatives and assess organizational progress in advancing a good food movement.
• La Clínica del Pueblo, Inc. (DC/MD/VA): La Clínica del Pueblo will enhance its Health Equity and Community Partnerships Hub to better serve low-income, limited English proficient Latino communities in the D.C. Metro Area by addressing food insecurity and other social determinants of health.
• Lake County Build a Generation (CO): Lake County Build a Generation will implement the Lake County Food Business Development Program to support local food entrepreneurship and food access.
• Georgia Center for Child Advocacy (GA): The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy will develop a polyvictimization awareness and education toolkit for use by community partners throughout the Metro Atlanta region.
• Speak About It (National): Speak About It will establish a youth board to offer adolescents an opportunity to actively shape more inclusive, representative education about healthy relationships for themselves and their peers.
• Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (WA): The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department will conduct an impact evaluation of health impact assessments that have shaped policy decisions in Tacoma.
• Technical Assistance Collaborative (OH): The Technical Assistance Collaborative will work with the Center for Family Safety and Healing and a Survivor Advocacy Group to design and advertise a program to reduce violence by increasing access to housing in Franklin County.
• The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (MD): The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention will establish the “Maryland Medicaid Integration for Violence Intervention Working Group” to develop strategies for qualifying violence intervention programs for Medicaid reimbursement.

The Initiative’s collaborating organizations are located across the country and represent diverse fields contributing to public health progress, including housing, transportation, education, environmental protection, community development, and criminal justice. To date, the Initiative has awarded over $1.3 million through the Network of Practice Grants program, helping dozens of organizations pilot new public health strategies in their communities.

“When an employee is accepted as a Bloomberg Fellow, collaborating organizations have a unique opportunity to expand their impact,” says Shane Bryan, Partnerships and Engagement Officer at the Initiative. “They not only gain access to exclusive funding opportunities, but also strengthen their capacity to address the unique health challenges facing their community through the support of the Initiative.”

For more information about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and opportunities to collaborate, please email Shane Bryan, sbryan7 [at] jhu.edu.