Deaconess Foundation is giving $50,000 to Alive & Well Communities and Missouri Jobs with Justice, respectively, as recipients of 2023 Policy Campaign/Collaborative Grants.
The resources can be used “to advance sustainable systemic change in key issue areas, namely social and emotional well-being for youth, paid sick leave, and economic equity,” according to the foundation.
“In some way, all people, children, and adults alike, are experiencing psychological distress at an alarming rate. The stressors on children, youth and families are acute and compounding,” said Rev. Bethany Johnson-Javois, president and CEO of Deaconess Foundation.
“With the state of the youth mental health crisis and the role that traditional systems play in exacerbating the crisis like the scarcity of family-supporting workplace policies such as paid sick leave, we intend for our investments to lead to multi-layered systems transformation powered by youth and their working families.”
Alive & Well Communities has brought Missouri students together to discuss school and develop student-generated policies. They emphasize the critical role of culturally responsive, holistic mental health supports and overall student and educator well-being in creating safe schools and positive education outcomes.
Recommendations include excused Mental Health Days for students, required annual mental health professional training for educators and school staff, and an inclusive curriculum that aims to cultivate learning environments that are equitable and nurturing for every student.
“At Alive and Well and the Regional Health Commission, we know our children cannot achieve academic success without the chance to be healthy and well,” said Jennifer Brinkmann, president of Alive & Well Communities.
“Often adults and the systems where we operate define for young people what is best for them, when the young people can tell us what they need. This funding will support our ongoing work to uplift the voices of youth most often marginalized. These young people have the wisdom to know how to heal themselves and our systems.”
Missouri Jobs with Justice works priorities “to drive long-term systems change such as paid sick leave and higher wages.
Black people, specifically people of color inclusively, and women are disproportionately represented in Missouri’s low-wage workforce and face the extra burden of no access to sick leave. Paid sick leave would prevent workers from having to choose between working while sick or foregoing healthcare treatments and earning a day’s pay. Higher wages, as proven, would strengthen our families’ and neighborhoods’ economic foundations.
“This grant will help us build on recent local policy wins, including the St. Louis Direct Cash Assistance pilot, Guaranteed Basic Income pilot, and Paid Family Leave for St. Louis City and County workers. These policies have profoundly impacted Black workers, workers of color, and women,” said Caitlyn Adams, Missouri Jobs with Justice executive director.
“The support from Deaconess Foundation will allow us to talk with more voters about the issues that matter most to them, amplify the voices of more Black workers and other workers of color, and deliver more tangible victories for working families across Missouri. This grant not only provides financial support but also affirms our shared commitment to building a Missouri that works for all of us.”
Missouri Jobs with Justice will recruit and train supporters to educate voters, co-lead a statewide coalition to coordinate strategy, messaging, and outreach, and form a coalition of endorsing organizations. The campaign will include affected workers and their families.
“Alive & Well Communities and Missouri Jobs with Justice are anchoring two seismic campaigns addressing significant issues that inhibit the health and well-being of our families. The results will have transformational impact for our children, youth, families, and communities,” said Constance Harper, Deaconess Foundation, vice president of policy, advocacy, and strategic initiatives.
These Policy Campaign/Collaborative Grants are a continuation of Deaconess’ ongoing policy and advocacy initiatives. In 2019, Deaconess invested $100,000 in Missouri Jobs with Justice and Action St. Louis to support a collaborative public policy campaign in 2020 to help achieve Medicaid expansion and democracy reform in Missouri.
The organizations partnered in helping to successfully pass Medicaid Expansion on the August 2020 Missouri ballot.
Applications for Deaconess Foundation’s Policy Campaign/Collaborative Grants will open again at the end of 2023 in preparation for supporting 2024 campaigns at the top of the new year. Learn more about Deaconess funding initiatives and opportunities at deaconess.org/what-we-fund.
