The Albany County Legislature, in conjunction with the Albany County Department of Health and the Albany County Executive’s Office has announced the availability of $150,000 for the purposes of promoting women’s health through education, service distribution, and promotion of resources, including specific programs such as health screenings, workshops, mental health services, and community outreach initiatives.

This county-wide initiative is crucial for addressing disparities in health outcomes among women, trans, and gender non-conforming individuals, while also emphasizing the need for better health education for these groups. Women’s health encompasses a wide range of issues, including menstruation, pregnancy and family planning, sexual and reproductive health, and menopause, as well as prevention and treatment of various chronic illnesses that affect both men and women but disproportionately impact women.

An intersectional approach to women’s health examines how factors such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexuality, disability, and nationality create and exacerbate barriers to obtaining equitable and effective healthcare services, resources, and education. Women encounter various obstacles in accessing healthcare, including sociocultural barriers, like stigma, cultural beliefs, negative attitudes, poor health literacy, and language issues; financial barriers, such as poverty, unemployment, and high service costs; and structural barriers, including inaccessible transportation, lack of insurance coverage, and insufficient information about the healthcare system.

Organizations funded through this initiative should aim to alleviate these barriers, address health disparities faced by women and other historically marginalized groups, provide education on women’s health issues, improve health literacy, and enhance healthcare accessibility. Priority will be given to organizations that propose evidence-based interventions aimed at reducing health disparities, improving health literacy, and expanding access to care, particularly in underserved communities. The inability of many women and marginalized individuals to access proper healthcare services or health education can lead to negative health outcomes. Ensuring that resources, services, and education are readily available for those who need them is a significant step toward addressing health disparities.

Successful programs will demonstrate measurable improvements in health literacy, increased access to women’s health services, and reduced healthcare disparities for marginalized communities. This initiative is open to organizations providing services to women, trans and non-binary individuals, and all individuals assigned female at birth who face barriers to healthcare access.

Individual grant awards will be up to $40,000, depending on the scope and quality of the proposals submitted.

The application process for the Albany County Women's Health Initiative Grant is multi-step:

1. Proposal Submission: The Albany County Legislature solicits applications from eligible project sponsors. Applications must include: 
   1. An executive summary detailing the program;
   2. A breakdown of anticipated expenses;
   3. A benefits statement outlining how the project will promote health education, increase access to services, and reduce health disparities, including projected impact; 
   4. An overview highlighting the need for assistance. The funding request must clearly demonstrate that the funds are not intended to cover personal expenses, staffing salary increases, or any staffing-related costs; and
   5. How this program promotes and provide resources aimed at reducing the barriers teens, women, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals are facing daily. 
2. Review and Scoring: Each proposal is reviewed and scored by staff of the Albany County Legislature, Albany County Department of Health, and the Albany County Executive’s Office.
3. Funding Recommendations: Based on the reviews of the designated graders, the Albany County Legislature will make recommendations on which projects should be funded. There is no guarantee that applications received by Albany County Legislature will ultimately be awarded funding.

Community based organizations, homeless shelters, women’s shelters, private individuals with demonstrated expertise, non-profit organizations, and other non-public entities are eligible to apply for funds to:

• Provide pregnancy and family planning education to teens, women, trans, gender non-conforming individuals;
• Launch public health education campaigns;
• Provide services and implement evidence-based interventions that strengthen perinatal and postnatal support structures;
• Launch public awareness education on the importance of pre-screenings;
• Create media awareness campaigns that can reach teens, women, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals who are going through menopause, cancers and other reproductive health barriers (utilizing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Threads, etc.); and
• Create a program to tackle barriers to healthcare access, including cultural stigma, financial limitations, lack of transportation, and poor health literacy.

Programs must demonstrate that they will provide at least one of the following:

1. Education designed for teens, women, trans, non-binary, or gender non-conforming individuals;
2. Promote health screenings, including those for cancer and chronic illnesses;
3. Programs that promote early detection screenings;
4. Implement programs that are grounded in scientific research and have proven effectiveness in addressing health disparities in marginalized communities; or
5. Programs that are designed to eliminate health disparities among segments of the population that have higher than average health disparities.

Additionally, all respondents must:

6. Submit a completed application meeting all requirements; and
7. Demonstrate the capacity to administer and implement the program effectively.