MAHONING VALLEY, OHIO – The three funding opportunities of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley – Western Reserve Health Foundation, Trumbull Memorial Health Foundation and the William Swanston Charitable Fund – have updated their funding priorities for 2026 through 2028 to align their efforts with local health agencies’ community health improvement plans, or CHIPs.
An updated Request For Proposals for each grant opportunity is available at CFMV.org/grants under each fund’s dropdown listing. A summary of changes is available below.
For the two health foundations, the updated priorities reflect the 2026-28 Mahoning-Trumbull Community Health Improvement Plan, a joint effort between Mahoning County Public Health, Trumbull County Combined Health District, Warren City Health Department, Youngstown City Health District and other local public-health agencies. Public health departments are required to conduct a Community Health Assessment and publish a CHIP every three years; since 2019, the Healthy Community Partnership has played a key role in helping collect and parse data to identify community health priorities. The full 2026-2028 CHIP is available online HERE.
As a fund focused on improving the lives of the Valley’s children, the Swanston Charitable Fund has updated its funding priorities to align with the community health needs assessment conducted by Akron Children’s Hospital. The report’s findings, which includes priorities, is available HERE.
Western Reserve Health Foundation & Trumbull Memorial Health Foundation
The scope of funding priorities for our two health foundations remains largely the same, but with updated language to better describe the health needs of the community. The specific changes going into effect for grantmaking through 2028 are:
- Access to Health Care is the updated priority, changed from Access to Care
- Includes access to hospitals, specialists, medical appointments, dental, vision, and maternal care
- Community Safety is the updated priority, changed from Community Conditions & Safety
- Includes awareness of and access to community resources, housing, and transportation
- Behavioral Health is the updated priority, changed from Mental Health & Substance Abuse
- Includes substance misuse and mental health
- Chronic Disease has been added as a priority
- Includes food insecurity, obesity, physical activity, prevention and risk factors
- Maternal, Infant & Child Health has been added as a priority
- Includes pre- and postnatal care, child passenger safety, vaccinations and safe sleep
Each health foundation’s issue- specific funding – Cancer Care and Pediatrics for Western Reserve Health Foundation; Cancer Care, Hospice Care, Diabetes Care and Orthopedic Care for the Trumbull Memorial Health Foundation – remains unchanged.
William Swanston Charitable Fund
Likewise, the funding priorities for our youth-focused fund have been updated to reflect current community health needs. The Swanston Fund’s priorities for 2026-2028 are:
- Mental & Behavioral Health is unchanged
- Focusing on strengthening care coordination, ensuring safe environments and expanding early intervention efforts
- Access to Care has been added as a priority
- Focusing on increasing access to providers, affordable insurance options, and health services that are easy to navigate
- Health Information has been added as a priority
- Focusing on empowering families with reliable health information to support informed decisions and improve pediatric well-being
- Asthma has been removed as a priority
- Community Conditions has been removed as a priority
- Maternal & Infant Health has been removed as a priority
Please note that the health foundations have added Community Safety and Maternal & Infant Health as priorities.
The Swanston Fund’s priorities for education (Kindergarten Readiness, 3rd Grade Reading Proficiency, 8th Grade Math Proficiency and High School Graduation/College & Career Readiness) and children’s services (the intersection of child welfare and parental substance abuse/incarceration, and the needs of youth involved in the justice system) are unchanged.