Special Initiatives

Occasionally, VHCF creates special initiatives to address identified needs in Virginia. Past initiatives have included the following:

Making Brighter Days Possible was a special 18-month initiative focused on increasing access to behavioral health services for uninsured and medically underserved Virginians. This initiative was made possible by a generous grant from Sentara. Each of the funded organizations used grant funds to hire behavioral health professionals to provide mental health services in person or via telemedicine. The grantees also defined goals for elevating the degree of behavioral health integration at the participating sites. 

Beyond Blue was a three-pronged behavioral health initiative launched in 2017 in celebration of the Foundation’s 25th anniversary. The three prongs include: the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner scholarship program; Defeating the Deadly Double, a population health initiative designed to improve outcomes for patients diagnosed with Diabetes and Depression; and the promotion of trauma informed care.

Taking Aim, Improving Health was a population health initiative whose purpose was to stimulate and strengthen collaboration between hospitals and their local primary care health safety net organizations (free clinics and community health centers) to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and Emergency Department visits by uninsured patients.

A New Lease On Life: Health for Virginians with Mental Illness was a $2 million special initiative to provide uninsured Virginians with treatment for basic mental health services, and to provide primary medical care and prescriptions medicines to uninsured Virginians with serious mental illness. It combined the expertise and talents of local health safety net organizations (free clinics, community health centers) and local community services boards to address serious unmet needs through two innovative approaches.

Last Updated on March 13, 2024