HHS Offers Competitive Grants to Help Improve Health in Small Communities June 2012

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced available funding of $70 million to help improve the health of small communities across the nation. Grants will be awarded to governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations across a variety of sectors, including transportation, housing, education, and public health.

These small-community investments are part of the Community Transformation Grants (CTG) program, a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative launched in 2011 by HHS and administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CTG Small Communities Program targets communities of up to 500,000 citizens to increase opportunities for residents to improve their health. These communities can be specific counties, cities, towns, and villages with populations up to 500,000, or neighborhoods, sections, or subgroups of the population (e.g., children or seniors) within a metropolitan area.

CDC expects to make a total of 25 to 50 competitive grant awards through this funding opportunity. Applicants must demonstrate how they can improve the health of their communities through increasing the availability of healthy foods and beverages, improving access to safe places for physical activity, and reducing tobacco use and encouraging smoke-free environments.

Grant awards will be announced in September 2012. The awards are one-time funding with a two-year project period.

The letter of intent deadline is June 18, 2012. The application deadline is July 31, 2012, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

Detailed information on this funding opportunity is available on the Grants.gov Web site.