November 15, 2024, New York, NY – Today, RTW Foundation (RTWF), the philanthropic arm of biotech investment firm RTW Investments, announced $500,000 in grant funding across ten local organizations dedicated to improving access to quality care for underserved communities across New York City.
RTW Foundation’s community partners are addressing key health disparities through community-based services, healthcare navigation support, and evidence-based interventions like appointment incentives for uninsured patients and health-empowerment tools for expectant mothers.
“Supporting our dedicated partners is a critical step in our shared mission to close the health equity gap,” said Marti Speranza Wong, President of Community Engagement at RTW Foundation. “Through fostering these relationships, we can address the root causes of health disparities in New York City and create lasting, positive change for underserved communities.”
Alongside their partners, RTW Foundation’s health equity initiatives have reached over 100,000 New Yorkers since 2020. In the past four years, the Foundation has awarded $3.5M toward health access initiatives, quality of care improvements, and programs addressing social determinants of health.
RTW Foundation is proud to partner with local organizations, providing value beyond grant funding, through Days of Action and other co-created programming. “Our perspective on partnership at RTW Foundation is rooted in collaboration. There’s power in showing up for one another and leveraging our collective expertise to further community impact and we continue to look for ways to do just that!” said Sarah Garwood, Director of Community Engagement at RTW Foundation.
AIRnyc
AIRnyc is a first-time grant partner committed to increasing health care coverage for 9,100 South Bronx residents through Medicaid Waiver 1115 enrollment, care navigation, and referral support with their Community Health Worker (CHW) team. Beyond that, the team aims to share findings on community needs and care navigation recommendations with stakeholders statewide.
Community Health Action of Staten Island (CHASI)
Community Health Action of Staten Island is a new grant partner who drives improvements in the health of Staten Islanders and aims to train over 150 health providers and staff in health literacy, social determinants of health, and communication styles that will best support their community members to access care. The project seeks to complete an organizational health literacy assessment, train full staff in anti-racist health literacy training, and operationalize strategies that address areas of need including expanded language access, employee training on social determinants of health, and plain language communications.
East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP)
With a RTWF grant in 2023, East Harlem Health Outreach Partnership (EHHOP) implemented a successful appointment incentives program that reduced appointment no-shows by 20%. This year, EHHOP will continue to reduce barriers to free care through appointment incentives, transportation support, and medical equipment for over 300 patients. The grant will support the program in supplying medical equipment including walkers, canes, and braces to improve patients' mobility, and expanding free health services to dental, optometry, and podiatry appointments for 100 patients through covered, referred visits at Boriken Neighborhood Health Services.
"Our partnership with RTW Foundation has addressed barriers that previously prevented East Harlem residents from accessing healthcare. Providing transportation support and financial incentives has had a profound impact on our clinic, reducing our no-show rate by 20% and allowing us to reach more patients who have nowhere else to turn for care. This year we will expand this initiative to include critical dental services and other specialty referrals."
- Jeremy Sherman, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mental Health Clinic Chair Emeritus, EHHOP
Exodus Transitional Community – Center for Trauma Innovation (CTI)
Exodus Transitional Community – Center for Trauma Innovation (CTI), a new RTWF grant partner, will provide free 1:1 and group mental health care for over 350 justice-impacted youth and adults in Harlem. Exodus provides traditional care options and innovative healing services including art therapy, trauma-informed yoga, and tailored programming on emotional regulation.
“We are excited to partner with RTW Foundation to expand access to free, trauma-informed mental health care for justice-impacted youth and adults in Harlem. This grant empowers Exodus Transitional Community’s Center for Trauma Innovation to offer a holistic approach to healing, combining traditional therapy with innovative services like art therapy and yoga. Together, we are creating pathways for resilience, emotional wellness, and lasting change in our community.”
- Kandra Clark, VP of Policy & Strategy, Exodus Transitional Community
Hamilton-Madison House
Hamilton-Madison House is another second-time grant partner that expands access to behavioral health services for the Asian American community. The grant will support training for a postdoctoral fellow to provide linguistically and culturally adapted mental health care for the pan-Asian community in NYC, cultivate a pipeline of professionals committed to serving the mental health needs of this community, and provide in-depth care for an additional 30-40 patients with complex mental health care needs.
“We are thrilled to continue advancing behavioral health access for the Asian American community. This grant allows us to add an additional post-doctoral fellow to our behavioral health care team to provide culturally tailored and linguistically proficient behavioral health care and train the next generation of professionals dedicated to this mission. Together, we are building a stronger foundation for mental health equity in New York City.”
- Barry Post, Director of Development & External Affairs, Hamilton-Madison House
Mixteca
Mixteca is a second time grant partner whose project will focus on key health areas including insurance access, mental health, preventative care, women’s health, and nutrition. Through 11 community health events, including two larger scale health fairs and 9 Days of Action, Mixteca aims to provide health education and access to free screenings to 1,000 people through two health fairs.
“At Mixteca, we're committed to providing culturally relevant and linguistically tailored programming and services to our Latinx community in New York City. We are excited to continue our partnership with RTW Foundation to expand access to critical health services, from mental health and preventative care to women’s health and nutrition. Through our health fairs and Days of Action, we aim to empower over 1,000 individuals with the education and resources they need to lead healthier lives.”
- Lorena Kourousias, Executive Director, Mixteca
Montefiore Medical Center – CICERO Program
The Montefiore Medical Center’s program, Centers Implementing Clinical Excellence & Restoring Opportunity (CICERO), is a new grant partner that provides care for HIV+ patients in 10 convenient, community-based sites across the Bronx that afford patients anonymity and confidentiality. The grant will support integrating health equity measures in data systems to both standardize data collection and more easily identify trends, particularly around patients’ social determinant of health (SDOH) needs. Beyond that, the CICERO team will integrate targeted interventions to support patients’ SDOH needs and increase health outcomes for patients.
RaisingHealth Partners
RaisingHealth Partners is a second-time grant partner whose project will provide community-based services including health screenings, care navigation, health education, and insurance enrollment for over 2,550 Brooklyn residents. The grant will support health screenings for 400 community members, health resources and educational outreach to 2,000 community members, vaccinate at least 150 community members to protect against the flu, and connect 75% of community members with a demonstrated need for healthcare coverage to services like NYC Care.
"We’re thrilled to be partnering with RTW Foundation for a second year to deepen the impact of our pop-up health clinics on low-income, under-insured immigrant communities in Sunset Park. Together, we take a community-based, linguistically and culturally tailored approach to healthcare and disease prevention. "
- Hewett Chiu, President & CEO, RaisingHealth Partners
Saving Mothers
Black women are nine times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth than white women in New York City. Saving Mothers is another first-time grant partner that is dedicated to eradicating preventable maternal deaths and birth-related complications in low-resource settings. With this grant, Saving Mothers will provide 100 mothers with MPOWHER Mom’s Kits, high quality diaper bags with health equipment and curated health literacy materials to empower mothers with their own health data and self-advocacy resources. In partnership with NYU Langone Black Mothers Matter and the Holistic Care Partner program, Saving Mothers will also train an NYU Patient Navigator to support Black mothers through pregnancy and the birthing processes, and will analyze MPOWEHER Kit effectiveness.
"I love that Saving Mothers is a space where different people come together - with their diverse skill sets, hearts, and dedication - to serve a common goal of making the world a safer place for all women, both locally in NYC and abroad. Our teams are excited to learn from the individuals that we aim to support - and that receptibility allows us to think creatively and empower communities to protect pregnant people no matter where they come from."
- Re Perry, MPH, Projects Coordinator, Saving Mothers
The Mexican Coalition for the Empowerment of Youth and Families
With their robust Community Health Worker program, the Mexican Coalition will provide care navigation services, translation, appointment booking, peer education, and health education programming reaching 1,200 Latinx community members per month. They aim to increase access to low-cost and no-cost health care by enrolling 300 people per month in NYC care.
"Mexican Coalition helped connect over 6,000 vulnerable adults to healthcare last year. With support from RTW Foundation, we will be able to expand our work and help make sure many more vulnerable children and families in NYC have access to the healthcare they deserve. Health equity is not a luxury but a right, and we are proud RTW Foundation has partnered with Mexican Coalition and others, so everyone is healthier in NYC.”
-Jairo Guzmán, President, Mexican Coalition for the Empowerment of Youth and Families
About RTW Foundation
Founded in 2018 as the philanthropic arm of RTW Investments, LP, RTW Foundation works to power community initiatives and provide scientific advising to improve the health of underserved populations. The Foundation supports the development of medicines for neglected rare diseases, empowers youth to explore careers in science, biotechnology, and medicine, and builds partnerships with local organizations to advance health equity in New York City. To learn more, visit www.rtwf.org