Out of the Box - What Does Innovation Look Like?
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships (LFP) sets a high bar for innovation in the selection process.
Some examples of innovation relate to:
"There is no 'formula' for innovation. We welcome originality and non-traditional players."
~ Pauline M. Seitz, LFP Director
Newly identified problems
Research into early brain development has only recently identified the serious mental health needs of children ages 0-to-3.
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Westside Infant-Family Network (WIN) (West Los Angeles, CA)
A coalition of six partner agencies—including a food pantry, childcare center and health clinic—provides culturally sensitive mental health care to families with infants and toddlers. Most parents do not realize how an adult’s stress from poverty, homelessness or recent immigration may threaten the early emotional bond a child requires in order to succeed later in life. Project details ... |
A community survey discovered middle school students who are doing poorly in school because they are exhausted by caregiving for a severely ill parent or grandparent at home.
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Caregiving Youth Project (Boca Raton, FL)
Provides caregiving adolescents with in-school counseling, respite care, enjoyable age-appropriate activities and links to existing services such as transportation, medical care and equipment, food services and tutoring. Project details ... |
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“Trying to address health and health care in the context of poverty, violence, inadequate housing or education often requires broad-based partnerships. We recognize that convening partners from both inside and outside of health care creates significant opportunities to improve health."
~ Jane Isaacs Lowe, Ph.D., senior program officer and leader of the Vulnerable Populations portfolio, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Hidden communities
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults often conceal their sexual orientation from health and social services providers or refrain from accessing services for fear of discrimination.
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Aging as Ourselves (San Diego, CA)
Local funders convened mainstream and LGBT providers to build on each agency's expertise and create a network of culturally responsive eldercare services. Project details ... |
Many female Oregon farmworkers are victimized by “bosses,” but the women remain invisible to medical and legal professionals because they speak only the native language of their home communities in Central America.
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The Project Against Sexual Assault of Indigenous Farmworkers (Portland, OR)
A strong partnership of the Oregon Law Center, indigenous farmworkers, the farmworkers union, local health care providers and the state Attorney General’s office seeks to prevent sexual abuse and bring perpetrators to justice. Project details ... |
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“We thank our local funding partners for finding—and sometimes creating—these ambitious projects. It takes a special lens to view a complex community health problem and see a new way to solve it. It also takes a great deal of energy, passion and diplomacy to engage new coalitions and actually change systems of care.”
~ Curtis Holloman, LFP deputy director
Old problems, new solutions
Individuals with severe mental illness die 10-20 years earlier than the general population.
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In SHAPE (Monadnock, NH)
Focuses on the physical health and fitness of people being treated for serious mental illness, often working to combat the weight gain and other side effects of psychotropic medications. Project details ... |
Gang violence splits cities along ethnic and neighborhood lines.
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The Streetworker Program (Lowell, MA
Centers peacemaking efforts on neutral ground, working together with Southeast Asian and Latino teens, business leaders, local police, schools, and city, state and federal policymakers. Project details ... |
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“LFP projects demonstrate the courage to challenge conventional wisdom. No short list of projects could capture the range of creativity represented by Local Funding Partnerships’ grantees.”
~ Pauline M. Seitz, LFP director
Creative approaches
Radio drama as education has a strong tradition in other countries.
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 BODYLOVE (Birmingham, AL)
This radio soap opera series focuses its “infotainment” on the health risks of diabetes and hypertension in the African-American community. Project details ... |
Puppetry can communicate difficult messages to young people in a compelling way.
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EXTREME Health Challenge (Orlando, FL
Uses life-size puppets, music and audience participation to teach elementary-school children ways to make healthy choices. Project details ... |
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To see what concepts have already been funded in a particular program topic or for a specific population, see Search for a Project. Or visit Featured Projects for more examples of groundbreaking LFP projects.
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