Since December, the Community Foundation has awarded 10 OKCGetsFit grants totaling $188,200 to innovative programs and projects.

Last year, Oklahoma City ranked as the unhealthiest city in America, according to the American Fitness Index. Dead last! To help combat this important issue facing our community, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation Trustees launched OKCGetsFit, a grant program designed to improve the overall health and wellness of our community.

"This grant will be beneficial to both humans and animals alike."

– DANA MCCRORY, PRESIDENT AND CEO
OKLAHOMA HUMANE SOCIETY

Since December, the Community Foundation has awarded 10 OKCGetsFit grants totaling $188,200 to innovative programs and projects ranging from opportunities for individuals with vision impairment to participate in sports; after-school running programs for young girls; and opportunities to take shelter dogs for a walk in the park.

"When we first heard about the OKCGetsFit grant program, we knew it was a perfect fit for us. We're encouraging metro residents to take rescue dogs on 'Foster Field Trips.' Taking a dog on a walk not only provides a fun and rewarding outlet for exercise, but also encourages the human-animal interaction that dogs awaiting adoption desperately need," said Dana McCrory, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Humane Society. "We're excited to receive this grant from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation and know it will be beneficial to both humans and animals alike."

In addition to promoting health and wellness, all grantees must utilize KeepMovingOKC.org as part of their grant, whether that means creating events for the online calendar or discovering parks and trails on the site.

"These grants reflect our commitment to improving health and wellness in our community," said Nancy Anthony, president of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. "Of course, change won't happen overnight, but these grants can be the first step to a healthier community."

The Oklahoma City Community Foundation has awarded more than $225,000 to help disadvantaged central Oklahoma residents receive essential health care services, a growing demand exacerbated by the global pandemic.

The grants are part of the Community Foundation's Access to Health Care iFund program, an initiative providing annual funding for central Oklahoma nonprofits offering essential health care services. Since 2007, the initiative has given $1.9 million back to the community.

"The Community Foundation has productive partnerships with many organizations providing health care to underserved citizens," said Nancy Anthony, president of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. "We're able to conduct due diligence and research so that our grant dollars can make the greatest impact on the issues affecting our community. It's a collaborative effort, and we're honored to be able to financially support these invaluable programs."

New this year is a $20,000 grant to Mental Health Association of Oklahoma for their street medicine program – a fairly new national movement that makes health care more accessible by sending providers out to individuals experiencing homelessness and residents in the Association's permanent supportive housing units instead of forcing them to find care. The program also helps direct individuals to community services assisting with health care needs.

"Mental Health Association Oklahoma is so grateful to the Community Foundation for investing in our new Community Health & Wellness program – Oklahoma City's first mobile street medicine team," said Terri White, the chief executive officer at Mental Health Association Oklahoma. "Our research has shown that individuals who experience the supportive intervention of an integrated mobile medical team are less likely to utilize emergency services for nonemergencies, more likely to achieve housing if needed and more likely to remain housed and stable due to the services they receive from the program. In light of the toll the pandemic has taken on physical and mental health across our community, now more than ever, we need to meet people where they are, to address their immediate physical and mental health care needs and bridge them to the resources that will help them achieve self-sufficiency and wellness."

The following organizations are receiving an Access to Health Care iFund grant in 2021:

  • Mercy Health Foundation Oklahoma City: $25,000 to provide mammograms, biopsies, ultrasounds, genetic counseling, translation services, MRIs and specialist appointments for Black and Hispanic females ages 40 to 65.
  • The Oklahoma Caring Van: $10,000 to provide immunizations for youth who qualify for the Vaccines for Children program or who are uninsured.
  • : $20,000 to provide street medicine and service navigation to individuals experiencing homelessness and in permanent supportive housing units.
  • Planned Parenthood Great Plains: $25,000 to provide health care visits and STI testing for uninsured young adults.
  • Calm Waters Center for Children and Families: $20,000 to fund grief-counseling scholarships.
  • Pivot, Inc. – $34,000 to support a clinic drop-in center, in partnership with Variety Care, for young adults age 16 to 24 who are experiencing homelessness.
  • Community Health Centers: $26,000 to provide mammograms and breast exams for uninsured women.
  • Positive Tomorrows: $2,500 to provide lice treatments for youth experiencing an extreme case of lice.
  • Oklahoma Dental Foundation: $30,000 to provide veterans with the oral care needed to receive dentures in partnership with D-Dent.
  • City Care: $20,000 to provide oral health care in partnership with Oklahoma Family Dentistry to benefit individuals transitioning out of homelessness.
  • Skyline Urban Ministry: $25,600 to fund a one-year nutrition and exercise education program in partnership with the Lynn Institute.