Wasilla, AK— The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) has opened a funding opportunity through its Healthy Impact grant program. The application period for this semi-annual program goes through January 15, 2017. Healthy Impact grants fund projects over $15,000 that improve the health and wellness of people living in the Mat-Su Borough.

MSHF uses a two-part application process for Healthy Impact grants. The first phase of the process is the Project Pitch. The Project Pitch is completed online at healthymatsu.org and includes information about the organization that is applying and a description of the proposed project. The Foundation reviews all pitches and invites forward to full application projects that most closely align with its mission and focus areas.

Since its inception, MSHF has awarded more than 180 Healthy Impact grants, with some awards as high as $1 million. Information about the types of projects that have been awarded in the past can be found online in the foundation’s searchable grants database, also at healthymatsu.org.

Prospective grantees must provide services or benefits to Mat-Su residents and be qualified Alaska nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations classified as “not a private foundation” under section 509(a) of the Code. In select cases, MSHF may choose to fund health-related projects undertaken by religious, governmental, educational or tribal agencies seeking partners for health-related initiatives that impact the broader Mat-Su community and extend beyond the traditional purpose and functions of these organizations. All potential applicants are encouraged to visit the foundation’s website at healthymatsu.org to learn more about the grant process, who the foundation funds and does not fund, and to review its searchable grants database to see the types of projects that have been awarded in the past.

Although Healthy Impact grant requests must be in excess of $15,000, smaller grant amounts are considered continuously under the Foundation’s Target Wellness grant program. As with Healthy Impact grants, Target Wellness grants are applied for online at www.healthymatsu.org.