Impact & Community
Mental health projects got a third of the Michigan Health Fund's first $9.7 million Healthy Kids round
We sorted all 26 grants the fund announced on November 5. Food and nutrition came second, and nine large grants took more than half the money.
By The Editors · The Game of Giving
About a third of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund's first Healthy Kids grant round, $3.2 million of $9.7 million, went to children's mental and behavioral health, by our count of the 26 grants the fund announced on November 5.
The Health Fund, as it calls itself, approved the round at its board meeting that day. It is the first under the fund's 2026 to 2031 strategic framework, which made Healthy Kids one of its grant programs. "We are thrilled to support an incredible group of organizations and projects through our first ever grant round," said Caitlin McEvilly-Rosenbach, the Healthy Kids director, in the announcement.
Where did the money go?
Mostly to mental health, food and the first years of life. The fund lists four priorities for the program: access to care and support, maternal and infant health, nutrition and physical activity, and integrated models for children's health. It did not total the grants by priority, so we sorted each grant by the project title the fund published. The grouping is ours, and a few projects could fit in more than one group.
| Focus (our grouping) | Grants | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental and behavioral health, including trauma | 9 | $3,239,711 | 33.4% |
| Food and nutrition | 6 | $2,607,304 | 26.9% |
| Pregnancy, infancy and early childhood | 7 | $2,504,804 | 25.8% |
| Clinics and direct care | 3 | $1,157,959 | 11.9% |
| Data and policy | 1 | $200,000 | 2.1% |
| Total | 26 | $9,709,778 | 100% |
The mental health group includes a statewide trauma response network run by Children's Advocacy Centers of Michigan ($500,000), peer support for LGBTQ+ young people and caregivers at the Ruth Ellis Center ($500,000), Wayne State University's HealthySteps project for integrated behavioral health care ($749,075) and the Michigan Youth Mental Health Corps at the state labor department ($249,064). The food group runs from scratch cooking in school kitchens, through the School Nutrition Association of Michigan ($593,977), to food and nutrition services at community health centers, through the Michigan Primary Care Association ($750,000).
How big were the grants?
Large by the fund's own history, and bunched near the top. The program's grant page sets a range of up to $750,000, and three grants landed within $5,000 of that ceiling: $750,000 to the Michigan Primary Care Association, $749,075 to Wayne State and $745,426 to the Autism Alliance of Michigan for early autism recognition in primary care. Nine grants of $500,000 or more took $5.39 million, or 55.5% of the round.
By our arithmetic, the average grant was $373,453 and the median $355,403. The smallest was $75,000 to the City of Dearborn for a Baby Café on early childhood health. For comparison, the fund says it made more than 1,300 grants worth more than $350 million from 2014 through 2025, which, taken at face value, is an average of roughly $270,000.
Public bodies were part of the mix. Three state departments, Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor and Economic Opportunity, received $834,680 combined, and three university grants, two to Wayne State and one to the University of Michigan, totaled $1.24 million.
Where does the Health Fund's money come from?
From Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The fund was created by Public Act 4 of 2013, the law that changed how the insurer operates, which requires it to pay up to $1.56 billion into the fund over 18 years, according to the fund. Its Form 990 returns show $100 million in contributions in each of 2022 and 2023, and the IRS master file lists about $589.1 million in assets for 2024. The law points the fund toward children and older adults, which is why a children's program sits at the center of its new strategy.
What applicants can take from this round
In our view, the list rewards projects that connect children's health to places families already go: schools, pediatric offices, food banks and community health centers. Several winners build one service into another, such as nutrition services inside community health centers or behavioral health inside other care. For a different funder making a similar bet, see the Celtics owners' $200 million to Boston Children's, which includes support for a new behavioral health campus. Applicants writing to the fund can also use our guide to a grant budget a program officer can read.
The Healthy Kids page lists no date for the next round yet. One grant looks furthest ahead: $200,000 to the Michigan League for Public Policy for Kids Count in Michigan in 2027 and 2028.
General information for donors and nonprofit leaders, not legal or tax advice. How we report is set out in our editorial guide.
