Funding Priority Area

Every Person Deserves to Live a Healthy Life

At Three Arches Foundation, we believe every person deserves to live a healthy life. Recognizing not everyone has the same opportunities to achieve their best health, we invest in nonprofit organizations that make it easier for those impacted by health disparities to access, navigate, understand, and use information and services – available when, where and how they are needed – to take care of their behavioral and physical health. As such, our current funding priority area is significantly aligned with our vision of a vibrant community where every person has equitable access to care.

Why Equitable Access to Care

Ongoing education and collaboration with our funded partners help us recognize that equitable access to care is essential – meaning that people with different needs may require different approaches. We believe this is achieved through acknowledgment and understanding of the unique backgrounds and circumstances that make it difficult for a person to manage their health effectively.

While we recognize the role that social determinants – conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age – play in shaping our health, TAF is focused specifically on the healthcare access component of determinants. As such, we are committed to aligning our grantmaking priorities with the work of healthcare backbone and safety net organizations addressing barriers and strengthening linkage to care, and bridging gaps in behavioral and physical health services.

The components below illustrate a comprehensive framework for access to healthcare - shaped by our vision and understanding, and informed by current knowledge and perspectives. These likewise serve as examples of addressing opportunities and barriers that TAF would consider for investment.

Delivery of Care: Continuum of behavioral and physical health services delivered via

• Healthcare backbone organizations and safety-net providers

• Home health care

• Telehealth and online platforms

• Medical mobile clinics and street outreach

• Organizational tools designed to support the advancement of qualified and motivated employees along a health sector career development path

Affordability of Care: Cost-related barriers to care 

• Provision of care that is otherwise cost-prohibitive

• Services not covered by private and/or federal or state health insurance

Continuum of Care: Coordinated and comprehensive approach to care

• Education and awareness

• Screening and preventive measures

• Clinical wrap-around services

Management of Care: Optimizing the quality of health outcomes

• Care coordination, care navigation, and case management to support and guide a patient through a streamlined healthcare journey

• Reliable and safe transportation options provided by and to a practitioner to help patients adhere to treatment plans, including keeping scheduled appointments

Characteristics of Care: Organization/Provider approach to care

• Culturally centered, respecting and responding to an individual's cultural, linguistic, and other social and environmental needs

• Patient centered, tailored to address the individual needs, preferences, and values of specific populations

• Trauma-informed, acknowledging the need for a complete picture of a patient’s life situation - past and present - and using that insight to provide effective, healing-focused health care services