News & Updates

  • MacKenzie Scott and Yield Giving bestow unrestricted gift to Health Resources in Action (HRiA)

    Health Resources in Action (HRiA) receives $10 million unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott & Yield Giving Initiative.

    Health Resources in Action (HRiA) has received a $10M unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott through the Yield Giving Initiative. “This gift is an incredible recognition of the collaborative work HRiA does with our community partners and clients to transform practices, policies, and systems to enable individuals to thrive in more equitable and just communities,” said Steven Ridini, HRiA… Read more »

  • Advancing Health Equity through Research: Announcing the 2023 Awardees of the Jeffress Trust Program

    Headshots of researchers with text "Advancing Health Equity Through Research: meet the awardees of the Jeffress Trust Program in Research Advancing Health Equity"

    The Jeffress Trust has announced the 2023 recipients of its Awards Program in Research Advancing Health Equity. Congratulations to the awardees! Below, we share highlights about each of the awardees. For full awardee project descriptions, click here. Partnership/Collaborative Establishment Awards Impact of Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) Collaborative Upon Social Determinants of Health of Low-Income Individuals in… Read more »

  • Advancing Housing Equity in Massachusetts

    a brownstone building with a blue box that says "Advancing Housing Equity in Massachusetts"

    Housing access in Massachusetts is at a crisis level. A two-bedroom apartment in MA, the third most expensive state for housing, requires an annual household income of over $86,000. These costs are exacerbated by low housing inventory, especially among affordable units. The deficit of affordable and available housing for extremely low-income residents has grown to… Read more »

  • Engaging Science: Meet the Inspiring Researchers of the Smith Family Foundation

    Biomedical researchers need strong scientific communication skills to combat rising skepticism and misinformation. Robust communication skills also help secure funding, support recruitment of research staff and study participants, and increase the impact of research findings on human health. Yet few researchers are afforded the opportunity to formally build these skills. The Richard and Susan Smith… Read more »

  • Building Power to Achieve Healthier and More Just Communities

    Power lies at the heart of health and racial justice, shaping our society’s structures. It determines access to resources, who makes decisions, who thrives, and who is left behind. Those who hold formal power within a system, such as elected or appointed officials, can leverage, shift, or build power. Historically, those “outside” of a governmental… Read more »

  • The Full Frame: Widening the Lens on Community Health

    Health Equity Wheel

    The Community Health Improvement (CHI) process can surface important information and initiate the action needed to create healthy and equitable communities. While most organizations successfully complete their assessments and plans, they often get “stuck” when it comes to prioritization, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. What strategies can your institution use to successfully complete the full cycle… Read more »

  • Transforming systems for trans lives: taking action for trans equity

    Trans rights in this country are under attack. As of April, the 2023 legislative session has seen nearly 500 anti-trans bills introduced across 49 states. The rise in legislative and judicial actions designed to harm trans people has coincided with a rise in hateful rhetoric across political, media and social media platforms, as well as… Read more »

  • Community Engagement, Mental Models, and Systems Transformation

    Community engagement is widely acknowledged as an essential component of public health and systems change work. Equitable community engagement: Acknowledges that decisions made about policies, public benefits, and the distribution of resources will have the most impact if made in partnership with the people they affect; Affirms that communities of focus have the skills, experiences,… Read more »

  • The Health Tree Metaphor and the Importance of Shared Language

    The Health EquiTREE, an illustration of a tree, including leaves, branches, roots, and soil, each labeled to visualize the connection between the soil and the leaves

    By Emily Breen, former Program Officer Dismantling structural and systemic racism is an essential part of promoting health equity and improving health outcomes. Yet the meaning of these nuanced concepts can differ depending on a person’s identities and lived experiences. We must develop a mutual understanding to operationalize these concepts so that they can inform… Read more »

  • From Toolkits to Test Strips: Exploring the HRiA Clearinghouse

    HRiA has lived in several places during its 65 years. Before we opened our headquarters in Boston’s Chinatown, HRiA was based out of 95 Berkeley Street in Boston’s Back Bay/South End. Long-term partners and clients may recall our office on Washington Street in Codman Square, Dorchester. Fewer still are familiar with a suburban property located… Read more »

  • Beyond COVID: Four Communities on Connecting, Healing, and Building Toward the Future

    In February, the Biden administration announced that they will be lifting the coronavirus public health emergency on May 11, 2023. This transition represents significant progress in pandemic recovery. From navigating the political and logistical complexities of shutdowns, masking, and vaccines to providing essential services, communities have been instrumental in the mitigation of COVID and its… Read more »

  • HRiA welcomes APHA to Boston!

    Boston skyline

    Our HRiA team extends a warm welcome to all visiting for the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo! We look forward to joining so many of our colleagues and partners at this exciting event. This year’s event is in our hometown of Boston, and we are happily participating in a record 17… Read more »

  • A toll on workers: A conversation with MassCOSH on workers’ health

    An image of construction workers with an overlay of text: toll on workers: a conversation with MassCOSH on workers' health

    Since 2001, August 31st has marked International Opioid Awareness Day, or IOAD, which kicks off September’s Recovery Month.  In recognition of both IOAD and Recovery Month, HRiA’s Geri Medina spoke with Jodi Sugerman-Brozan, outgoing Executive Director of MassCOSH and soon-to-be Deputy Chief for the first-ever Cabinet of Worker Empowerment in the City of Boston, to… Read more »

  • Help is always here: the critical role of helpline services

    Two hands reaching for each other, with text: Blog post. "Help is always here: the critical role of helpline services." Health Resources in Action.

    Updated February 16, 2024. The pandemic has exacerbated the growing behavioral health crisis in the U.S, with disproportionate impact on communities of color and young people. Those in need of services deserve and require empathy, advocacy, and support. When someone needs services for substance use and problem gambling—that’s where the Helplines come in. What is… Read more »

  • HRiA supports reproductive choice, including abortion rights

    On Friday, June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court finalized their decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating the federal constitutional right to an abortion. This is a significant moment in history. HRiA fully supports reproductive choice, including abortion rights Protecting the reproductive rights of women and birth-capable people is an urgent and critical public health… Read more »

  • The LEAH Project and partners aim to increase diversity in STEM fields with launch of the STEM Exploration Internship

    In summer 2022, the Leaders through Education, Action and Hope (LEAH) Project launched the STEM Exploration Internship, a new paid summer internship program for twelve Boston area high school students with backgrounds historically underrepresented in STEM fields, facilitated in partnership with MassBioEd and hosted by Lab Central. With a shared imperative for increasing representation in… Read more »

  • The ARPA-tunity of a lifetime

    Do you have a story to tell about your community’s ARPA work? We want to hear from YOU about how you are advocating for equitable recovery through ARPA funds at the local or state level. Send us an email and share your story! Massachusetts is on the precipice of transformational change. The American Rescue Plan… Read more »

  • Strategies for inclusive grantmaking: increasing diversity and equity in the biomedical workforce

    A recent publication in Nature Medicine, co-authored by two of our staff members, Kim Lezak and Lindsay Redman-Rivera, explores grantmaking practices to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the biomedical workforce. The collaborative team of authors from the Health Research Alliance offer recommendations in demographic data collection and use, increasing the diversity of the applicant… Read more »

  • A Public Health Approach to Problem Gambling

    Blog post: A public health approach to problem gambling

    Original publication date: March 31, 2022. Updated February 23, 2024. In this piece, we explore the issue of problem gambling from a public health perspective, specifically through a health equity lens, and share important considerations and action items as we work to reduce stigma and address the disproportionate impact of problem gambling on Black, Indigenous,… Read more »

  • HRiA presentations at the Annual Meeting of APHA 2021

    HRiA presentations at the Annual Meeting of APHA 2021

    In October 2021, HRiA staff members and sponsored programs participated in the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) in Denver, CO and virtually. These presentations illustrate some of our work in training, capacity building, community engagement, and evaluation around topic areas including COVID-19, violence intervention and prevention, mental health, harm reduction, substance… Read more »

  • MassHealth Provider Access Improvement Grant Program (PAIGP) awards grants to help MassHealth providers improve accessibility and outcomes for patients

    Boston, MA (November 10, 2021): The MassHealth Provider Access Improvement Grant Program (PAIGP) recently announced the 61 recipients of the PAIGP 2021 Cycle 3 grant awards. PAIGP award funding, which totaled over $1.84M, will be distributed among these eligible MassHealth Fee-for-Service providers to help increase access to healthcare and improve outcomes for patients with disabilities,… Read more »

  • MA COVID-19 Community Grants issues Request for Proposals (RFP) for Tribal and Indigenous Peoples Serving Organizations

    On behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Health Resources in Action has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to Tribal and Indigenous Peoples Serving Organizations (TIPSO) serving Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Hawaiian Natives, Pacific Islanders, and Indigenous Peoples as a part of the Massachusetts COVID-19 Community Grants Program. Specifically, this RFP seeks proposals that will… Read more »

  • Engaging Communities as Experts throughout the Assessment Process

    Best practices in assessment call for thoughtful, authentic collaboration with the community at every step of the process, from project design to dissemination of findings. However, it can be all too easy to send out a survey or host a focus group and call it community engagement. That approach may elicit feedback from community members,… Read more »

  • Hands-On Youth Development STEM Program in the Age of COVID-19: The LEAH Knox Scholars Program

    The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the landscape of STEM-based youth development programs in 2020. Public health directives prohibited in-person laboratory experiences for high school students, resulting in many STEM programs significantly adjusting or cancelling their activities. This posed a challenge for the LEAH Knox Scholars (LKS), a compensated summer enrichment program that provides an immersive biology… Read more »

  • Healing is Essential to Liberation

    By Mayowa Sanusi, former Research Associate. The article below originally appeared on Medium.com on 6/13/2021, reprinted and lightly edited with permission from the author. As I learn more about the teachings of Black feminists like bell hooks and Audre Lorde, I see the importance of healing to the liberation — freedom of oppression and constant… Read more »

  • Juneteenth: Reflect and Celebrate

    By Nineequa Blanding, Former VP, Grantmaking Lightly updated for June 2023 June 19th is Juneteenth, a holiday that marks a pivotal moment in our American history. This day commemorates the day the Emancipation Proclamation was recognized in Texas, specifically Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865 – more than two years after it had been enacted…. Read more »

  • Reflecting on the No Menthol. Know Why. campaign

    a picture of Lauren Ansong dePass

    Today (June 1, 2021) marks one year since Massachusetts’ flavored tobacco ban went into effect. The following reflection was written by HRiA staff member Lauren Ansong dePass, a Black woman who leads and contributes to many HRiA programs including the Fight All Flavors/No Menthol. Know Why. Campaigns that mobilized communities in support of the ban, as well… Read more »

  • Root Causes: Going Past Social Determinants

    By Mayowa Sanusi, former Research Associate. Decades of racist policies enforcing racist systems have created an environment in which Black communities suffer from high rates of infection and death from COVID-19, police brutality, and economic hardship. Since all these issues have a direct effect on community health, public health professionals are presented with a question… Read more »

  • Grant Opportunity For BIPOC Communities Impacted By COVID-19. Apply by April 19th.

    Grants of $10,000 to $50,000 are now available to 501(c)(3) community-based organizations and faith-based organizations (and other groups with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor) who serve the communities impacted by COVID-19 in Massachusetts. The goal of COVID-19 Community Grants is to reduce COVID-19 infections, morbidity, and mortality among Black, Latinx, and other people of color in target communities including Brockton, Chelsea, Everett, Framingham, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, New… Read more »

  • HRiA presentations at the Annual Meeting of APHA 2020

    HRiA presentations at the Annual Meeting of APHA 2020

    In October 2020, HRiA staff members participated in the first all virtual annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA). These presentations illustrate some of our work in training, capacity building, community engagement, and evaluation around topic areas including gun violence prevention, harm reduction, substance use prevention education, and tobacco legislation. Read the abstracts… Read more »

  • MassHealth Provider Access Improvement Grant Program (PAIGP) awards a second round of grants to help MassHealth providers improve accessibility and outcomes for patients

    Boston, MA (October 29, 2020): The MassHealth Provider Access Improvement Grant Program (PAIGP) recently announced the 65 recipients of the 2020 Cycle 2 PAIGP grant awards. In total, PAIGP will award over $2M to help these providers increase access to healthcare and improve outcomes for patients with disabilities, or for whom English is not a… Read more »

  • Get Out The Vote!

    Election day (November 3, 2020) is just weeks away, and early voting has already begun in several states. To mark the start of early voting Massachusetts (tomorrow, October 17th), HRiA has put together this special edition blog post about the power of voting, the history of voter suppression, and what we can do to get… Read more »

  • Moving Towards Justice in Maternal Health: a NMHPN Virtual Symposium

    Please join the National Maternal Health PCOR Network (NMHPN) for a virtual symposium: Moving Towards Justice in Maternal Health: A Roadmap for Action Join us on October 14th, 21st, and 28th from 5:00pm – 7:00pm ET as we discuss maternal justice and the key systems that impact maternal health. The goal of the symposium is… Read more »