OVERVIEW: The Well Being Trust was created when two health organizations merged and is largely focused on mental health.
IP TAKE: This is a new foundation, but one with a lot of money to spend on one specific cause. For the time being, much of its funding remains in the state of California, although it has begun making some grants nationally. This funder is not accessible at this time, so it does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding.
While the focus so far has been on California, several national grantees exist. Providence St. Joseph Health has 50 hospitals, 829 physician clinics and serves seven states. After this initial $30 million is gone, we wouldn’t be surprised to see funding shift to Alaska, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas or Washington instead. WBT’s mission isn’t a California-specific one, as it has stated its commitment to addressing mental health challenges throughout America. But now is a good time for Northern and Southern California groups to get a foot in the door with this health legacy foundation.
PROFILE: Established in 2016, the Well Being Trust is a foundation that was created when Providence Health and Services and St. Joseph Health came together to form Providence St. Joseph Health. The Well Being Trust was initially called the Institute for Mental Health and Wellness, and it began with a seed endowment of $100 million. From 2017 to 2019, funding focused on the state of California, but beginning in 2020, the fund expanded its funding to other areas of the U.S. Maintaining a vision of broad mental, emotional and spiritual wellness in the U.S., the Wellness Trust’s areas of grantmaking are clinical transformation, community transformation, policy and advocacy, social engagement and learning and innovation.
Grants for Mental Health and Public Health
The trust’s clinical transformation program promotes a “whole person” and patient-centered approach to the clinical treatment of mental illness and substance abuse. Past grantees include Be Well Orange County and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The trust also partnered with its parent company, Providence St. Joseph, to establish the Clinical Performance Group for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders, which created a model for the integration of behavior health and primary care.
The community transformation program works with organizations across the U.S. to study the social conditions of well being and created the Well Being in the Nation Network. The fund also partners with nonprofits to advance community-level solutions to the most widespread mental health issues. Past partners in this area are the Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Prevention Institute.
The policy and advocacy program supports the development of policy that advances mental health services and care for all Americans including Hopelab and the Bipartisan Policy Center, which used funding for its work in the area of mental and primary health care integration.
In the area of social engagement the fund works toward broadening mental health awareness and eliminating stigmas associated with mental illness. Much of the fund’s work in this area has been with media outlets, including iHeartMedia, BuzzFeed and Ozy.
Finally, the Wellness Trust’s learning and innovation program works strategically to improve mental health practice and policy through the sharing of best practices. This program has partnered with Community Commons and the National Committee on Vital Statistics.
Important Grant Details:
Lately, the foundation provides over $8.5 million in grants per cycle. See the funder’s news and press releases to learn about recent giving. Grantmaking has been focused on both Northern California and Southern California, but the fund plans to broaden its geographic scope in the coming years.
The Well Being Trust does not unsolicited applications for funding, working instead with preselected partners toward shared goals. To contact the staff, fill out the online form and sign up to receive email updates from the organization.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
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