PI and the Movember Foundation Announce Initiative for Upstream, Community-Driven Strategies

Prevention Institute and the Movember Foundation introduce the Making Connections Initiative and are inviting Letters of Interest from sites to support planning and implementation of upstream, community-driven, mental health and wellbeing strategies for men and boys. As lead coordinator of the initiative, Prevention Institute encourages applicants who can design multi-sector, collaborative approaches for high-need communities such as boys and men of color and their families, and/or military and veteran communities/families.

This funding opportunity builds on the detailed landscape report on the current state of mental health for American men and boys, Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys in the U.S.  A number of the resulting themes have shaped this funding opportunity, including:

• Prevention programs are effective but they are not at scale to maximize community-level impact.
• Indigenous and lay people approaches are emerging that support healing and mental wellbeing.
• Resilience is a critical protective factor for mental wellbeing.
• The need to focus specifically on men and boys’ mental health is emerging.
• Population-level prevention strategies are not well developed despite the analysis that underlying community-level conditions are a part of the problem.

The report also identifies several promising community-level strategies that emphasize inter-disciplinary planning and collaboration that can positively impact mental health and wellbeing.

The initial planning award, up to $150,000 for a 1-year period, is to participate in a learning community led by Prevention Institute, strengthen local strategic partnerships and develop an actionable prevention plan.  Successful sites will be eligible for implementation funding for 2-4 years. Download the funding announcement and instructions for submitting a letter of interest. Letters of interest are due by 5 p.m., Friday, June 12th.

Selected grantees will participate in technical assistance, training and a community of practice geared toward developing capacity and achieving mental health outcomes. They will also collaborate with evaluators to develop performance measures and outcomes and inform the development of communication materials that emerge from the initiative, among other things.  Together, the organizations participating in this initiative will strengthen and evaluate ways to enact positive change in communities – beginning with men and boys.

Potential applicants can learn more about this opportunity and community-level approaches by attending the Making Connections webinar from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. (PT) on Thursday, May 28th. Letters of interest must be submitted based on guidelines in the funding announcement by 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, June 12, 2015 to  MakingConnections@preventioninstitute.org.

Please help spread the word by sharing this announcement with your networks! For background related to the Making Connections initiative, please read PI’s landscape report for the Movember Foundation, Making Connections for Mental Health and Well-Being Among Men and Boys in the U.S.