Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment Awards $9.9 Million for 40 Health Improvement Projects

Milwaukee, Aug. 1, 2024 – The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW) will fund 40 new projects focused on improving health in Wisconsin. The grants of up to $250,000 were awarded through a competitive application process.

AHW’s Momentum Grants support efforts to address Wisconsin’s most pressing health challenges. The funding is for projects to be completed within a 24-month timeframe beginning in July 2024. Grant applications underwent a rigorous review process before approval of a final slate of projects by the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Consortium on Public and Community Health, the AHW Research and Education Advisory Committee, and the MCW Board of Trustees—AHW’s three oversight bodies.

AHW awarded 22 grants totaling $5,497,864 to community-based organizations throughout Wisconsin. Seven of the community-focused grants support projects with statewide reach, while 10 projects focus on urban centers and five are rooted in rural communities. In total, 11 urban counties and 16 rural counties are included in community-led projects in this round of AHW funding. Community projects receiving AHW funding include initiatives aimed at building and sustaining the state’s health workforce, improving access to healthy food, combating substance use disorders, addressing mental health challenges, and providing integrated care to vulnerable populations.

Additionally, AHW is funding 18 research projects with grants totaling $4,391,041. Among the MCW faculty-led initiatives receiving AHW support are studies devoted to curtailing opioid addiction, optimizing HIV and syphilis screening rates, increasing CPR training, and improving care for cancer and brain injury patients.

“In our twentieth year of grant-making, AHW continues to propel the most promising work and ideas to advance the health of all Wisconsinites,” said AHW Director Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH. “These 40 projects totaling nearly $10 million reflect our commitment to investing the funds entrusted to us to improve lives throughout the state.”

For more information on projects funded by AHW, including Momentum Grant awards that took effect in July 2024, visit the funded projects page on the AHW website.