Hispanic Health Council Receives Nearly $200,000 Grant from Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to Support Development Efforts

For the past 38 years, the Hispanic Health Council has been a leader in improving the health and social well-being of Latinos and other diverse communities through community-based research, evidence-based direct services, provider training and policy advocacy. In order to strengthen and sustain this work, the Council has been awarded a three-year, $198,647 grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to support its strategic fund development efforts. These funds will be used to hire a professional fund development officer to implement a comprehensive fundraising program.

“The establishment of a Fund Development Office is essential to the Hispanic Health Council’s strategic direction and development,” said Jose Ortiz, HHC’s president & CEO. “We deeply appreciate the support of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving for their wisdom in supporting not just services but also capacity building for community organizations like ours.”

The work of the Hispanic Health Council focuses on supporting Latinos and other diverse communities who experience health inequities, often due to language, cultural and systemic barriers. Unfortunately, the diminished availability of funds from public and private sources has made it increasingly challenging for community-based nonprofit like the Hispanic Health Council to sustain and grow there programs and services in order to meet the needs of the communities it serves. This challenge was specifically highlighted in the Council’s 2015 strategic plan, which called for the establishment of a professional fund-development department to increase and diversify the Council’s revenue stream to better serve the community.

The professional development officer will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive fundraising program, establishing consistent funding streams, implementing the technology plan as it relates to fundraising efforts, and building a maintenance reserve fund to protect the Council’s physical assets.

“The Hispanic Health Council is wise to position itself ahead of the curve in professionalizing its fund-development function,” said Hartford Foundation senior program officer Peter Rosa. “Its programs and services are too important to the community to subject itself to the ebb and flow of funding availability.”