Volunteers of America and SEED SPOT Announce Partnership for Community Health Incubator
Applications open for community health ventures to benefit from impact-first accelerator, sponsored by Humana Foundation
This incubator provides mentorship and knowledge sharing that improve startup success rates in community health, and offers a strong community foundation among other innovators in this space”
WASHINGTON, D.C., USA, April 4, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Volunteers of America’s (VOA) Futures Fund will partner with globally ranked social impact incubator SEED SPOT to bring its powerful mentorship and piloting capabilities to six community health ventures this year. Applications are now open. — SEED SPOT’s Recruitment Manager, Miranda Williamson.
Launched in 2018, VOA’s Futures Fund supports the development and expansion of high-impact health, housing and social service models and enterprises within VOA and as joint-venture partnerships with external community health entrepreneurs. In 2022 and sponsored by the Humana Foundation, the Futures Fund launched its Community Health Incubator to accelerate and support entrepreneurs in health-equity fields, especially those addressing high-risk communities.
Selected participants in this year’s cohort will receive $25,000 in non-dilutive grants, 12 weeks of training from SEED SPOT from May 30 to August 25, mentorship from VOA leadership and a network of community health experts, and collaboration opportunities leveraging VOA’s extensive portfolio of assets. This includes over 15,000 frontline practitioners, nearly 22,000 units of affordable housing, over 15 senior healthcare facilities, and hundreds of programs and service models across 400 US communities and Puerto Rico that serve approximately 1.5 million children and adults each year. Upon completing the program, ventures will be considered for larger capital investments of up to $200,000.
This year’s Community Health Incubator will support participants in identifying the root cause of the challenges they are addressing and maximize equitable outcomes. “This incubator provides mentorship and knowledge sharing that improve startup success rates in community health, and offers a strong community foundation among other innovators in this space,” says SEED SPOT’s Recruitment Manager, Miranda Williamson.
VOA’s Vice-President of Innovation & Impact Investing, Stephen Samuels, believes that companies founded by leaders with diverse lived experiences close to the problems they are trying to solve are the key to transforming community health. “VOA is uniquely positioned as a highly experienced and trusted community-based provider to help these early-stage ventures so that their solutions can scale while also broadening access and reducing barriers for diverse and traditionally underserved populations.”
Applications are now open at https://seedspot.org/community-health-incubator. Selection priority will be given to ventures working on solutions in Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas, those working in behavioral health, and those with a target population of elderly and youth. The final application deadline is April 28. Candidates may contact Miranda Williamson for information and application support at miranda@seedspot.org.
###
About Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America is a non-profit housing, health and human services organization committed to serving people in need, strengthening families, and building communities. Volunteers of America was founded in 1896 on a core belief in the potential of every person no matter the circumstance. Its extensive portfolio of services support and empower America's most vulnerable populations. Visit www.voa.org.
About SEED SPOT
In 2019, SEED SPOT was ranked as a top 5 private business accelerator and most promising for social impact by UBI Global at the World Incubation Summit in Doha, Qatar. SEED SPOT supports entrepreneurs through programs, such as webinars, 2-Day Launch Camps, Pivot Camps, and the Impact Accelerator. SEED SPOT has served 1848 entrepreneurs since 2012 who have raised $79.2M in capital, generated $161.8M in revenue, created 3,217 new jobs, and impacted the lives of 10.2M people with their products, services, and technologies. Visit www.seedspot.org.
About the Humana Foundation
The Humana Foundation was established in 1981 as the philanthropic arm of Humana Inc. and is focused on health equity, working to eliminate unjust, avoidable and unnecessary barriers in health and healthcare. The Foundation fosters evidence-based collaborations and investments that help people in underserved communities live connected, healthy lives. As a steward of good health, the Foundation creates healthy emotional connections for people and communities and is shaping a healthier approach to nutrition to support lifelong well-being. For more information, visit humanafoundation.org.
Humana Inc. and The Humana Foundation believe everyone should have access to the tools and support needed to have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Our commitment to improving health outcomes for all – our members and patients, employees, the communities we serve, the healthcare system, and the environment - is the foundation of our Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) impact platform.
Victoria Bendure
Bendure Communications
vicki@bendurepr.com
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram