Wisconsin coalitions encouraged to apply for community transformation grants

The Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources today announced that communities across the state can apply for grants to create healthier places to live, work and play through the Transform Wisconsin Fund.

The fund will competitively award community grants to more than 30 nonprofit organizations or local governments across the state.

“Our goal is to promote healthy environments by helping people make healthier choices,” says Tom Sieger, director of prevention services and campus health initiatives at the UW–Madison’s University Health Services (UHS). “These grants empower communities to take concrete steps in reducing cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses.”

The Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources is a unit of UHS.

Transform Wisconsin, funded by a U.S. Centers for Disease Control Community Transformation Grant, will award a total of $6.6 million to community coalitions and partnerships. The clearinghouse today issued a request for proposal application process at www.transformwi.com.

Grants will be awarded based on three strategic directions: tobacco-free living, healthy food systems and active communities.

Applicants can submit a proposal for one direction or all three, depending on organizational capacity. The clearinghouse will award “Transformation Grants” for up to four coalitions ready to immediately target all three directives. Those organizations targeting one issue-specific directive will be considered for one of 30 “Impact Grants.”  

“We strongly encourage coalitions, non-profit organizations and local governments to apply for a grant,” Sieger says. “This is a unique opportunity to positively impact health at the local level.”

Applications for Transform Wisconsin grants are due June 15, 2012. For more information on the proposal application process, visit www.transformwi.com.

For more than 35 years, the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources has advanced public health and prevention efforts in the state through accurate, up-to-date information, training and technical assistance to help Wisconsin youth, families, schools and communities in the promotion of healthy practices and the prevention of injury and disease.

In keeping with the Wisconsin Idea, the organization strives to make information about environmental strategies, research-based programs, and new technologies and practices available to residents beyond the university and throughout the state.