Initiatives Grants

Sections

Advanc­ing the goals of our Initiatives

Ini­tia­tives Grants and Oppor­tu­ni­ties Grants are com­ple­men­tary pro­grams under the umbrel­la of Cat­a­lyst Grants. While both address com­plex com­mu­ni­ty prob­lems, Ini­tia­tives Grants specif­i­cal­ly sup­port the work of the Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion’s Behav­ioral Health, Edu­ca­tion & Fam­i­lies, and Hous­ing Solu­tions Initiatives.

Pro­gram Details

  • Grant funds must advance the goals of one or more of the Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion’s Ini­tia­tives: Behav­ioral Health, Hous­ing Solu­tions, and Edu­ca­tion & Fam­i­lies. (See Ini­tia­tive Goals below.)
  • Appli­cant must be a 501(c)(3) non­prof­it, gov­ern­ment enti­ty, or oth­er IRS-rec­og­nized char­i­ta­ble orga­ni­za­tion serv­ing Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming OR be fis­­cal­­ly-spon­­sored by an enti­ty that meets these require­ments. (No for-prof­it applicants.)
  • Grant funds must be used exclu­sive­ly in Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming. (In select sit­u­a­tions, grants may ben­e­fit peo­ple work­ing in Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming who live in neigh­bor­ing communities.)
  • Funds may not be used for debt retire­ment or reli­gious or polit­i­cal activities
  • Grant funds may not be used for work that has already been completed
  • New in 2025: Required 30-minute meet­ing with Foun­da­tion staff between July 8‑August 29 to dis­cuss pro­pos­al con­cept (see Time­line below for details and meet­ing request form)

The Foundation’s three Ini­tia­tives are in vary­ing stages of evo­lu­tion, hav­ing been launched at dif­fer­ent times post-pan­dem­ic. The basis of each Ini­tia­tive is a col­lab­o­ra­tive work­ing group that has been active­ly involved in the devel­op­ment of the frame­works below. 

BEHAV­IORAL HEALTH INITIATIVE

  • Pur­pose, Vision, Mis­sion, and Val­ues
  • Approach: The Teton Behav­ioral Health Alliance works to improve the behav­ioral health care sys­tem in Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming at a sys­tems lev­el through high-lev­­el, cross-sec­­toral col­lab­o­ra­tion. TBHA facil­i­tates com­­mu­ni­­ty-wide actions that enhance pre­ven­tion, treat­ment, and cri­sis response efforts while address­ing the gaps and inequities in the sys­tem to ben­e­fit all who live and work in Teton County.
  • Goals
    • Avail­abil­i­ty of Afford­able Care: Increase the avail­abil­i­ty and afford­abil­i­ty of care by trust­ed providers that reflect the diver­si­ty of our community.
    • Com­mu­ni­ty Edu­ca­tion: Col­lab­o­rate on coor­di­nat­ed out­reach and engage­ment to expand and rein­force pre­ven­tion efforts, espe­cial­ly among and with­in his­tor­i­cal­ly mar­gin­al­ized populations
    • Cri­sis Response and Post Cri­sis Care: Improve patient cen­tered, cul­tur­al­ly-com­pe­tent, and trau­ma-informed cri­sis response and post-cri­sis care
    • Nav­i­ga­tion and Care Coor­di­na­tion: Improve the ease with which com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers iden­ti­fy, con­nect with, and refer between behav­ioral health services.
    • Provider Capac­i­ty and Well­be­ing: Invest in sup­ports that increase provider capac­i­ty and wellbeing
    • Youth-Focused Ser­vices: Increase avail­abil­i­ty and inte­gra­tion of youth-focused ser­vices that are respon­sive to cur­rent needs

EDU­CA­TION & FAM­I­LIES INI­TIA­TIVE
The fol­low­ing is under devel­op­ment by the Expand­ed Learn­ing Col­lec­tive (for­mer­ly Sys­tems of Education).

  • Pur­pose. The Expand­ed Learn­ing Col­lec­tive believes that access to out-of-school learn­ing has the pow­er to close the edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ty gap and sup­port the suc­cess and ful­fill­ment of youth in Teton Coun­ty, Wyoming. We work to address bar­ri­ers to access, sup­port edu­ca­tor recruit­ment and reten­tion, and build stronger rela­tion­ships between providers and their constituents. 
  • Approach
    • Fos­ter oppor­tu­ni­ties and address chal­lenges for out-of-school time through col­lec­tive action.
    • Break down silos and pro­mote col­lab­o­ra­tion to ensure we are learn­ing with and from each oth­er and our community.
    • Impact learn­ers through pro­gram­ming and by engag­ing with the broad­er con­text that sup­ports their suc­cess, includ­ing edu­ca­tors, insti­tu­tions, families.
    • Ground our work in data, sto­ries, and the wis­dom and expe­ri­ences of com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to ensure equi­table access to out-of-school learning. 
  • Goals
    • Improv­ing Equi­table Access to Pro­gram­ming: Iden­ti­fy and address sys­temic bar­ri­ers to access­ing out-of-school pro­gram­ming that per­pet­u­ate inequities with­in our community.
    • Estab­lish­ing and Enhanc­ing Path­ways and Sup­ports for Edu­ca­tors: Pro­mote the recruit­ment, train­ing, and reten­tion of edu­ca­tors to pro­vide the high­est qual­i­ty expand­ed learn­ing experiences.
    • Fos­ter­ing Stronger Com­mu­ni­ty Rela­tion­ships: Invest in strate­gies to strength­en rela­tion­ships between providers and con­stituents to ensure pro­gram­ming is rel­e­vant to com­mu­ni­ty needs and that fam­i­lies and care­givers can nav­i­gate the pro­gram­ming landscape.
    • Address­ing Crit­i­cal Gaps in Out-of-School Pro­gram­ming: Build capac­i­ty to meet the expand­ed learn­ing needs of Teton Coun­ty youth by iden­ti­fy­ing and address­ing gaps in services.
  • Pur­pose: The Hous­ing Solu­tions Ini­tia­tive cham­pi­ons col­lab­o­ra­tive solu­tions to increase the avail­abil­i­ty, acces­si­bil­i­ty, and diver­si­ty of afford­able hous­ing options in Teton Coun­ty and Jack­son. This work is ground­ed in the belief that safe, sta­ble hous­ing is essen­tial to com­mu­ni­ty well-being, eco­nom­ic resilience, and a thriv­ing local workforce. 
  • Approach: The Hous­ing Solu­tions Ini­tia­tive sup­ports local hous­ing efforts by address­ing the root caus­es of hous­ing chal­lenges and focus­ing fund­ing on com­mu­ni­ty-iden­ti­fied needs. It aims to cre­ate space for shared learn­ing, aligned goals, and col­lec­tive action among cross-sec­tor part­ners work­ing to advance hous­ing solutions.
  • Goals
    • Expand Equi­table Access to Hous­ing: Fund strate­gies that close afford­abil­i­ty gaps — par­tic­u­lar­ly for mod­er­ate-income work­ers who are not served by cur­rent pro­grams — and increase hous­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties across income lev­els, house­hold types, and life stages.
    • Build a Uni­fied, Data-Informed Hous­ing Sys­tem: Invest in data tools, research, and col­lab­o­ra­tive infra­struc­ture that fos­ter shared under­stand­ing, track progress, and guide deci­sion-mak­ing across the hous­ing ecosystem.
    • Acti­vate Cross-Sec­tor Solu­tions to Increase Hous­ing Sup­ply and Sta­bil­i­ty: Sup­port pub­lic-pri­vate part­ner­ships, col­lab­o­ra­tive employ­er-led ini­tia­tives, and pilot inno­v­a­tive fund­ing mod­els that increase the sup­ply of homes, pre­serve hous­ing for locals, and cre­ate more sta­bil­i­ty in the hous­ing market.
    • Increase Mobil­i­ty and Sta­bil­i­ty With­in the Hous­ing Sys­tem: Sup­port solu­tions that help res­i­dents move more eas­i­ly with­in the hous­ing sys­tem as needs change — includ­ing down­siz­ing, upsiz­ing, or tran­si­tion­ing between deed-restrict­ed and mar­ket-rate homes. Fund strate­gies to pre­serve exist­ing hous­ing for the local work­force, such as preser­va­tion funds and buy-downs.
    • Fos­ter a Shared Hous­ing Vision Across Sec­tors: Pro­mote efforts that shift pub­lic under­stand­ing of hous­ing as both an eco­nom­ic dri­ver and a social good, ele­vate diverse com­mu­ni­ty voic­es, and build shared nar­ra­tives that gen­er­ate trust, align stake­hold­ers, and cre­ate momen­tum for col­lab­o­ra­tive solutions.
    • Sup­port Pol­i­cy Change for Com­mu­ni­ty Hous­ing: Advance efforts to mod­ern­ize poli­cies and inter­nal orga­ni­za­tion­al prac­tices that enhance qual­i­ty of life and eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ties for cur­rent and future renters and homeowners.

Sys­tems change is the ​“north star” of Cat­a­lyst grant­mak­ing impact. The Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion rec­og­nizes that sys­tems change takes time, part­ner­ships, and resources, and that it comes in iter­a­tions. We are pleased to part­ner with local orga­ni­za­tions in var­i­ous stages of sys­tems change work. 

Ini­tia­tives Grants pri­or­i­tize fund­ing for com­pelling, high-impact pro­pos­als in the fol­low­ing order: 

  1. Sys­tems change work (dis­cussed here; also see Exam­ples of Sys­tems Change Work below)
  2. Inno­va­tion with­in a system
  3. Work that is crit­i­cal to meet a press­ing com­mu­ni­ty need (though pos­si­bly not sys­tems changing)

Pref­er­ences and Con­sid­er­a­tions

The strongest appli­ca­tions will feature: 

  • Com­pelling strat­e­gy for sys­tems change or oth­er inno­va­tion, sup­port­ed by data if available
  • High like­li­hood of yield­ing mean­ing­ful impact 
  • Strate­gic partnerships 
  • Diver­si­ty of fund­ing sources and a plan for ongo­ing funding 
  • Appli­cant has orga­ni­za­tion­al capac­i­ty, sta­bil­i­ty, respon­si­ble lead­er­ship, and a track record of pro­gram­mat­ic success 
  • Align­ment with:
  • Encour­aged but not required: par­tic­i­pa­tion in an Ini­tia­tive-spe­cif­ic work­ing group – Teton Behav­ioral Health Alliance, Hous­ing Col­lec­tive, and/​or Expand­ed Learn­ing Collective

Exclu­sions

Requests for the fol­low­ing will not be considered:

Pro­pos­als that have been fund­ed by the Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion or request­ed with­in the past 12 months may not be resubmitted.

  • High-impact pro­gram­ming focused sig­nif­i­cant com­mu­ni­ty issues and their root caus­es (large num­bers or dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly affect­ed pop­u­la­tions served)
  • Capac­i­ty build­ing for orga­ni­za­tions to bet­ter meet the needs of under­served populations
  • Imple­men­ta­tion of strate­gic plan­ning (not strate­gic plan­ning itself – think ​“Series B” funding) 
  • Cap­i­tal expen­di­tures for orga­ni­za­tions sys­tem­i­cal­ly address­ing crit­i­cal com­mu­ni­ty needs (expen­di­ture must have broad and endur­ing com­mu­ni­ty ben­e­fit, or sig­nif­i­cant­ly sup­port pop­u­la­tions in need)
  • Struc­tur­al changes with­in orga­ni­za­tions that will increase effi­cien­cy and impact in crit­i­cal ser­vice areas (e.g. non­prof­it mergers)

This is not a com­pre­hen­sive list. The Com­mu­ni­ty Foun­da­tion wel­comes cre­ative pro­pos­als that mean­ing­ful­ly advance Ini­tia­tive goals. 

Fol­low­ing are exam­ples of past Ini­tia­tives Grants geared toward sys­tems change:

Behav­ioral Health Ini­tia­tive Grants 

  • $25,000 for a new sup­port group mod­el for sur­vivors of domes­tic vio­lence, sex­u­al assault, and stalk­ing that allows trau­ma to be processed through somat­ic modal­i­ties that don’t require talk­ing about an expe­ri­ence or iden­ti­fy­ing as a sur­vivor of a spe­cif­ic trau­ma. Grantee: Com­mu­ni­ty Safe­ty Net­work in part­ner­ship with 13 local health and human ser­vice partners 
  • $51,000 to increase a sense of belong­ing and build resilience among gen­der diverse com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers by uti­liz­ing a three pronged approach: sup­port groups, com­mu­ni­ty-build­ing events, and pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment for providers as well as finan­cial sup­port for under/​uninsured indi­vid­u­als. This work shifts men­tal mod­els about gen­der diverse indi­vid­u­als by reduc­ing dis­crim­i­na­tion and cre­at­ing a more accept­ing and inclu­sive com­mu­ni­ty. Grantee: JH Gen­der Diver­si­ty Project in part­ner­ship with 10+ non­prof­it and busi­ness partners 

Edu­ca­tion & Fam­i­lies Ini­tia­tive Grants 

  • $25,000 to sys­tem­atize the pro­gram and eval­u­a­tion struc­tures of Ris­ing Edu­ca­tors, which pro­vides Latine high school stu­dents with paid intern­ships and career train­ing. This project will allow Ris­ing Edu­ca­tors to be sus­tained, scaled, and repli­cat­ed in oth­er fields of inter­est. Grantee: Teton Sci­ence Schools in part­ner­ship with 8 non­prof­it and gov­ern­ment organizations
  • $50,000 for the Coombs Club­house, which ensures the sta­bil­i­ty of enrich­ing out-of-school oppor­tu­ni­ties for under­rep­re­sent­ed youth. The con­sol­i­da­tion of pro­gram oper­a­tions to a sin­gle suit­able hub has increased effi­cien­cy and pro­gram­mat­ic impact. Grantee: Coombs Outdoors

Hous­ing Solu­tions Ini­tia­tive Grants 

  • $35,000 to con­duct a needs assess­ment on dis­abil­i­ty-inclu­sive and acces­si­ble hous­ing, devel­op pol­i­cy rec­om­men­da­tions, and guide devel­op­ers on inclu­sive design. The project includ­ed tech­ni­cal assis­tance, stake­hold­er edu­ca­tion, and informed inclu­sive design stan­dards, lay­ing the ground­work for more acces­si­ble, afford­able hous­ing for peo­ple with dis­abil­i­ties and aging res­i­dents. Grantee: Jackson/​Teton Coun­ty Afford­able Hous­ing Depart­ment in part­ner­ship with a nation­al­ly renowned dis­abil­i­ty-inclu­sive hous­ing con­sul­tan­cy + 3 local orga­ni­za­tions serv­ing peo­ple with disabilities
  • $31,000 to con­duct immi­grant focus groups and inter­views to cre­ate the first com­pre­hen­sive com­mu­ni­ty report on immi­grant needs in Teton Coun­ty designed to inform col­lab­o­ra­tive hous­ing solu­tions, men­tal health, and edu­ca­tion­al ser­vices. Grantee: Voic­es Jack­son Hole

Total avail­able fund­ing for 2025 Ini­tia­tives Grants:

  • Behav­ioral Health: up to $300,000
  • Edu­ca­tion & Fam­i­lies: up to $300,000
  • Hous­ing Solu­tions: up to $300,000

There is no spec­i­fied minimum/​maximum request. See Exam­ples of Sys­tems Change Work above for a ball­park range.

We expect a total appli­cant pool request that exceeds what is avail­able to grant, mak­ing the appli­ca­tion process high­ly competitive.

  • July 8‑August 29
    • Devel­op pro­pos­al con­cept, solid­i­fy project partnerships
    • New in 2025: 30-minute meet­ing with Foun­da­tion staff to dis­cuss your pro­pos­al con­cept (required to sub­mit an Expres­sion of Inter­est in Sep­tem­ber). Our goal is to sup­port appli­cants and ensure pro­pos­als’ align­ment with Ini­tia­tives Grants. Request a meet­ing here.
  • Sep­tem­ber 17 – 24: Expres­sion of Inter­est sub­mis­sion period 
  • Octo­ber 14: Expres­sion of Inter­est noti­fi­ca­tions; select orga­ni­za­tions advance to writ­ten application 
  • Octo­ber 16 – 30: Writ­ten appli­ca­tion period
  • Decem­ber 4 – 9: 10-minute Q&A with review committee 
  • Decem­ber 10 – 12: Grant noti­fi­ca­tions
  • Decem­ber 15-Jan­u­ary 15: Grant con­tract and disbursement

Grantees are asked to sub­mit a report after com­plet­ing their grant-fund­ed work. Report­ing dates are cus­tomized to indi­vid­ual project time­lines. The Grant Report form focus­es on impact, eval­u­a­tion strate­gies, and bud­get alignment.

Grantees must adhere to the Foundation’s Com­mu­ni­ca­tion Require­ments For Grant Recip­i­ents.

Ini­tia­tives Grants are fund­ed by gen­er­ous pri­vate donors seek­ing cat­alyt­ic com­mu­ni­ty advance­ments in the areas of behav­ioral health, hous­ing, and youth out-of-school learning. 

Please email grants@​cfjacksonhole.​org with ques­tions about Ini­tia­tives Grants.