Stupski Foundation – Student & Community Wellness Initiatives

Recommended information session: March 3, 2023, 11 a.m. HST. Please contact [email protected] to express your interest in this grant.

Stupski Foundation invites organizations to apply for funding to support efforts that support student and community wellness in 1) Hawaiʻi,  2) San Francisco or Alameda Counties, and/or 3) state or national collaboratives that work in those locales.

One of the most pressing issues impacting students and systems today is mental health. Students across the country are experiencing a deepening student mental health crisis, which has become a top “basic need” that universities, researchers, and funders have identified. In December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a rare advisory highlighting the urgent need to address our nation’s ongoing youth mental health crisis, which the COVID-19 pandemic significantly exacerbated. 

Accordingly, we invite proposals for policies, programs, and interventions that advance student and community wellness. We will prioritize concept papers that 1) address student and support staff wellness or 2) are innovative pilots and/or existing projects that advance community wellness. Although valuable, we will not consider concept papers that focus on mental health diagnosis and treatment options. Specifically, we are seeking ideas that:

• Are organizational wellness initiatives informed or designed by the student or staff beneficiaries.
• Pilot proactive efforts to build community wellness for students or Transitional Aged Youth (TAY).
• Are from community-based organizations without existing wellness programming.
• Benefit Hawai‘i, San Francisco or Alameda County students, TAY and/or staff who support them.
• Are sustainable with the potential to impact students beyond the grant funding.

Examples of projects we will consider for funding include, but are not limited to, the following: programs providing wellness-focused experiences to TAY; programs expanding wellness services to staff; projects to expand existing services to include peer wellness programs; creation of safe spaces for TAY to gather and build community; wellness training for students or staff who are working on advancing community wellness; and wellness pilots and innovations that have been generated by the students or staff who will benefit from them.

In an effort to help organizations decide whether it is worthwhile to submit a concept note, we want to offer as much insight into our decision-making criteria process as possible. In that spirit, we offer the following information regarding our priorities in Hawai‘i and the Bay Area:

Hawai`i Priorities:

• Projects creating physical and/or emotionally safe spaces for young people
• Professional/personal development that centers on personal wellness and intervention for students and/or staff
• Projects serving students and/or staff on neighbor islands and in rural areas

How to Apply

For this concept paper, we suggest reviewing our selection rubrics (available after the March 3, 2023 information session) to assess whether your project is aligned with our selection criteria. Once you determine alignment, please submit an up to two-page concept paper to [email protected] that includes a brief overview of your organization’s planned efforts to advance student and community wellness solutions, including: 

• The vision and goals for your proposed initiative/project 
• A description of how your project advances equity
• A description of how your leadership is informed and led by the communities you serve
• An estimated total grant budget between $50,000 to $300,000 for up to four years