Three Arches Foundation

Over the past six years Three Arches Foundation (taf) has proudly supported 47 nonprofit organizations with nearly $10 million in funding towards their efforts to advance the behavioral and physical health and well-being of people in lakewood and surrounding communities. From the beginning taf committed to an approach built on continuous learning, balanced power, and transparency that put nonprofit organizations at the core of the relationship. With trust-based practices engrained in our work, we continue a learning journey with nonprofit partners who share their firsthand knowledge and broader understanding about the people they serve and health issues they face. The Foundation has made a subtle but important shift to its funding priority area from equal access to equitable access to care. This shift recognizes that an individual's background or circumstance may make it difficult to manage their health. Accordingly, the funding focus is now concentrated on those partners that address the barriers to access faced by communities and populations most impacted by health disparities. Taf's 2023 investment decisions were considered through this health equity lens to address a diversity of needs through expansion of existing programs and services, funding of new initiatives, and general operating support. Two themes emerged: i. Cultural competency is a foundational pillar for reducing system-level disparities. Multiple grant partners embrace diverse cultural factors impacting health access that extend beyond language, communication styles, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Taf funded work will reduce healthcare obstacles linked to language, cultural background, gender/sexual orientation, immigration status, and socioeconomic status. Taf investments in culturally competent work include: *an hiv prevention and testing pilot program designed to target hard-to-reach and underserved latinx and other populations. *culturally sensitive mental health and substance use treatment services for local transgender and gender diverse youth and adults. *programming designed to improve the physical health of people with down syndrome through exercise. Taf is also supporting efforts to bring culturally competent services to those in marginalized populations that have cancer, dementia and/or who would benefit from in-home, pre-hospice palliative care. Ii. Navigation assistance is consistently represented in taf funding support. Navigation plays a critical role in removing structural barriers to improve health outcomes by easing the struggle and complexity of accessing timely and appropriate care. Taf navigation funding examples include: *support for an onsite, dedicated family resource manager who ensures children and families are linked with services required to reduce trauma after a child abuse crisis. *general operating support for comprehensive oral and dental health clinics and wrap-around services for underinsured and uninsured adults and children to address dental health equity gaps. *investment in patient navigation and transportation for high-risk patients seeking support for their mental health or substance use disorder. Looking ahead, taf will continue to consider its role in improving equitable access to healthcare in our community. We know that people with lived experience related to systemic barriers to healthcare access are closest to the solutions we seek to support. We will continue to challenge ourselves and our partners to bring those voices to the table.