Request for Proposals (RFP)  | Application Coversheet  | Additional Resources

Integra Community Care Network announces a new initiative to address health equity issues in the communities we serve. The Integra Social Partnerships Initiative for Community Engagement & Equity (I-SPICEE) will support the planning, piloting, and evaluation of community-based projects that help ensure all Rhode Islanders have a fair and just opportunity to be healthy.

What health equity issues are impacting your community?

What needs to change?

How can we work together to make this change? What can we learn?

The Integra Social Partnerships Initiative for Community Engagement and Equity (I-SPICEE) is an opportunity for us to partner with CBOs to address health equity issues among the populations we serve.

Integra seeks to fund up to three partnerships over an 18-month project period from September 2023 to March 2025. Selected partnerships will collaborate with Integra to implement strategies to address health equity issues through projects that integrate community engagement. We are asking for CBOs to share their expertise by telling us what problems need to be addressed for the populations that Integra serves and what solutions are likely to work.

Successful proposals will identify a health equity issue of significance, identify a strategy to make a change, and describe how the applicant will collaborate with Integra and directly impacted communities to enact this strategy. I-SPICEE partnerships may receive up to $125,000 each to support these activities.

A health equity issue keeps a certain community or population from having a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. For Integra, when we think of health equity issues, we include problems like:

• A health-related social need that isn’t being met by existing services for a community or population
• An access gap where services aren’t effectively or equitably reaching a community or population
• A quality gap where services are of lower quality or poorer fit for a community or population
• An illness or health risk disproportionately impacting a community or population
• A power imbalance where a community or population doesn’t have a say in conditions affecting their health
• Social drivers like systemic racism, ablism, or anti-LGBTQ bias that interfere with everyone having a fair and just opportunity to be healthy.

With I-SPICEE, we are asking CBOs to name the health equity problems that are most important to the communities they serve and propose solutions that we could implement together. We invite applicants to propose strategies that fit with the strengths and needs of their own communities and draw from their expertise to identify the changes that are needed and feasible.

How to Apply

We invite proposals from CBOs with a physical presence, track record, community credibility, and active programming in Rhode Island. Networks or consortia, including Health Equity Zones (HEZes), are encouraged to apply. We invite organizations at all levels of technical capacity to consider this opportunity. We particularly seek organizations with leadership and roots in communities most impacted by health inequities.

Interested organizations should download the full Request for Proposals (RFP) and the application coversheet. Initial applications (in the form of a letter of intent) are due by April 27. Full details are in the RFP document.

Additional Resources

1. I-SPICEE FAQ
2.  Click here for the slides from the informational session held on March 30th and watch the recorded presentation to learn more: