CONTACT: Jack Cardinal, (781) 960-5208

(BOSTON, MA) – Following the success of the first Consumer Voices for Innovation (CVI) grant program, the Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation at Community Catalyst (the Center) has announced CVI 2.0 which will distribute up to $1.4 million over two years across seven state-based advocacy organizations. These organizations will engage and organize consumers with complex health and social needs to advocate for policy and program changes that address social determinants of health like housing security, food security and transportation.

“The first round of grants demonstrated how to find, organize and support the leadership of consumers with complex health and social needs in improving health care through policy and practice change,” said Ann Hwang, MD, director of the Center. “We’re excited to support the next wave of consumer leadership to ensure that health care programs address the needs of the communities and consumers they serve, this time focusing on the factors outside of the doctor’s office that keep people healthy, such as having enough food, a way to get to medical appointments and stable housing.”

The organizations involved in the CVI 2.0 program are:

  • Alabama Arise – Who will partner with a local coalition to organize low-income consumers and create a collaboration between a food bank and one of the regional care coordination networks established as part of the state’s Medicaid transformation initiative
  • Together Colorado – Who will organize consumer leaders, including users of Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) services, to ensure strong community oversight of NEMT and improve the delivery of transportation services.
  • Georgians for a Healthy Future – Who will build the voice of consumers, including individuals with disabilities, to influence how the state’s Medicaid NEMT vendor is selected in order to ensure that the NEMT program works better for people with disabilities and other Medicaid-covered individuals and families.
  • Maine People’s Resource Center – Who will organize low-income older adults, home care workers, immigrant small business owners and others to support policies that improve Maine’s health system’s responsiveness to the nutrition and transportation needs of older adults.
  • Massachusetts Senior Action Council – Who will improve food security by empowering lower-income older adults to advocate that the commonwealth integrate the current enrollment process for health and food benefits, making it easier for low-income individuals and families to receive the benefits that they are eligible for.
  • Make the Road New York – Who will grow its grassroots base and develop the leadership of its members to push for policies that use their community health worker model to address safe housing as a social determinant of health.
  • Pennsylvania Health Access Network – Who will expand and mobilize a base of Medicaid consumers to improve, protect, and expand Medicaid-provided transportation, both non-emergency medical and non-medical transportation, as the state undergoes a significant change in the delivery of these benefits.

The first CVI program ran for two years and saw state advocates reach nearly 30,000 consumers across six states and develop over 1,000 of those consumers into leaders who will can now effectively advocate for consumer needs with regulatory bodies and others overseeing health system changes. CVI 2.0 will run on a two-year cycle.

About the Center for Consumer Engagement In Health Innovation

The Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation at Community Catalyst is a hub devoted to teaching, learning and sharing knowledge to bring the consumer experience to the forefront of health innovation in order to deliver better care, better value and better health for every community, particularly vulnerable and historically underserved populations. The Center’s work is supported through investments in state and local advocacy, leadership development, research and evaluation, and consultative services to delivery systems and health plans. Visit healthinnovation.org or follow the Center on Twitter @CCEHI to learn more and follow our work.

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