Faith-based organizations and places of worship have played an important role during the COVID-19 crisis in our country. These organizations and their volunteers and staff have been on the frontline, mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and providing communities with much needed guidance and support. That is why the American Heart Association’s Eastern States Region is announcing the first EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator™ Faith-Based, where $105K in grants will be awarded to faith institutions and leaders to continue and scale their business models aimed at addressing social determinants of health in their communities.
The Faith-Based Accelerator is open to institutions of faith and places of worship in the following areas: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia and Washington, D.C. Social determinants include, but are not limited to: race bias, income, education, healthcare access, pollution, housing availability, transportation and access to healthy foods. Submissions of interest may be submitted between March 17 – April 30, 2021.
On Wednesday, March 17th at 11:30a.m. ET, the AHA will host a free online workshop and interactive presentation from faith leaders working on
entrepreneurial strategies that both serve their constituents/congregations and provide additional revenue potential for their sites. The Faith-Based Accelerator workshop will feature Dr. Abraham Shanklin, Jr. Founder and Executive Director of The Center of Transformation, Inc. in Maryland; Rev. Leroy Miles, Jr., Associate Pastor, ENON Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia and Pamela Garmon – Johnson, VP Health Equity, American Heart Association. Anybody affiliated with a faith institution that is interested in applying to the Faith-Based Accelerator is encouraged to join.
Up to 10 submissions will be chosen to advance and receive training to further develop their business models and pitches around faith-based efforts to help the most historically disadvantaged communities and drive sustainable impact and improved health. Pitches will then be presented for an opportunity to receive grant funding at the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator™ Faith-Based finale event scheduled for June 2021.
For More Information:
https://www.empoweredtoserve.org/en/capital-access-grant-funding/eastern-states-faith-based-accelerator
Watch the Workshop Here: