OVERVIEW: The Vitalyst Health Foundation is a health legacy foundation that is focused on access to care and coverage, healthy community design, community capacity building, community innovation and collaboration, and civic participation.
IP TAKE: The Vitalyst Foundation, a signatory of the GUTC Pledge, awards grants for Arizona healthcare organizations with a strong focus on transformational healthcare change, collaboration, and health equity. It is not unique among health funders in prioritizing on the social determinants of health—such as economic opportunity, air quality, and access to housing and food—but it does put a greater focus on them than many of its peers. Very little of its grantmaking goes to serve health-related nonprofits directly, while its main grants prioritize funding organizations working in community development or economic opportunity through the lens of public health. This means that this funder addresses a surprisingly broad range of issues for a health funder.
This is a relatively transparent funder. While it does not have a grants database as such, it does maintain a list of select past grantees on its website, along with descriptions of the projects funded through Vitalyst grants. It is also fairly accessible, as it accepts open applications for its main grant programs, with detailed guidelines posted on its website. Note that these grants are highly selective, as the funder only awards a handful of them per year, and several of them are multi-year grants only offered every few years. However, Vitalyst does offer an online Discovery Program that allows grantseekers to meet with a program officer and identify the type of grants for which they are eligible and navigate the application process. Grant programs change from time to time, so keep up with this funder’s grants page and sign up for its e-newsletter.
PROFILE: Established in 1996, the Vitalyst Health Foundation is a health legacy funder formed after Arizona’s St. Luke’s Hospital System sold to a for-profit corporation. Before adopting its current name, it was known as the St. Luke’s Charitable Health Trust and St. Luke’s Health Initiatives. The foundation, a GUTC signatory, aims to “connect, support and inform efforts to improve the health of individuals and communities in Arizona.” It takes a holistic approach to public health by focusing mainly on the social and economic factors that promote healthy communities, such as access to housing and food, transportation and mobility, economic opportunity, and education and physical activity for youth. Vitalyst offers project-specific, general operating support, and capacity-building grants to nonprofits in its giving area through five main types of grants: Systems Change Grants, Spark Grants, Medical Assistance Grants, Technical Assistance Grants, and Advocacy and Public Policy Capacity Building.
Grants for Public Health and Community Development
Vitalyst currently runs several grantmaking programs with the goal of promoting “collaborative projects that are improving the health of Arizonans by making systems more effective, equitable, and sustainable.” Vitalyst takes a holistic approach to public health and wellness by basing its grantmaking strategy off what it calls the Elements of a Healthy Community Wheel. This infographic indicates all the social determinants of public health that inform the foundation’s strategy, including not only access to quality health care, but transportation, affordable housing, community safety, economic opportunity, education, environment, food, community planning, parks, “social/cultural cohesion,” and social justice. Applicants for grants or partnerships with Vitalyst must state how their project addresses one of these elements, preferably centering around the intersection of two or more of them. Vitalyst offers the following types of grants:
Systems Change Grants support transformational collaborative projects that aim to improve healthcare access and community wellbeing in Arizona communities. Applicants must present as a collaborative partnership between two or more nonprofits, at least one of them being based in and serving Arizona. Grants consist of up to $175,000 for a three year period.
Spark Grants also support collaborative efforts for healthcare transformation in Arizona, but focus on new and developing organizations. They are intended to allow nonprofits “to figure out solutions, not to fund an already identified solution.” Grants range from $10,000 to $25,000 for one year.
The foundation’s Medical Assistance Grants support organizations working in the areas of vision, hearing, substance abuse recover, cardiology and pulmonology with funding for preventative screenings, staff training, treatments, surgeries and other medically necessary procedures. Grants range from $20,000 to $150,000 depending on the field for a three-year period, and are only awarded every three years.
Technical Assistance Grants connect nonprofits with expert consultants to help supplement their capacity for functions like “fundraising support, strategic planning, and leadership development.”
Advocacy and Public Policy Capacity Building initiative also provides technical assistance from expert consultants, but focuses on connecting nonprofits with capacity building resources to help increase or expand their impact.
Past grantees include Arizona Faith Network, Creek Valley Health Clinic, Tucson Audubon Society, Activate Food Arizona, Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth, Pima County Attorney’s Office, Academy of Building Industries, Area Agency on Aging, Maricopa Community Colleges HUG Clinic, Phoenix Rescue Mission, Foundation for Blind Children, and American Academy of Pediatrics.
Important Grant Details
Grants generally range from $20,000 to $150,000 depending on the program. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s grants page.
Vitalyst Health Foundation’s grantmaking is restricted to the state of Arizona. It funds local and regional nonprofits, public schools, government agencies, and sometimes national nonprofits with branches of operations based in and serving Arizona communities.
Applications for Systems Change Grants are accepted once per year, with the deadline for LOIs typically falling in October. Select applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. Applicants must apply as a collaborative effort between two or more organizations.
Applications for Spark Grants are accepted four times a year, with quarterly deadlines falling in July, October, February, and May.
Applications for Medical Assistance Grants are accepted every three years. The next grant cycle will open in 2026. Deadline TBA.
Applications for Technical Assistance and Capacity Building grants are accepted year around or until funds are expended.
Vitalyst offers an optional Discovery Process that allows grantseekers to schedule a video meeting to discuss their eligibility and prospective application.
The foundation does not provide funding for programmatic or direct services, capital expenditures, long-term assets, or general fundraising sponsorships.
Direct general questions to the staff at 602-385-6500 or via email at info@vitalysthealth.org.
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