Each year, our community investments help an average of 10 million people in Florida access essential health and well-being services. We partner with local organizations to advance innovative programs addressing food security, mental well-being, health literacy, hurricane relief, and more.
The Florida Blue Foundation is now accepting grant applications from nonprofit organizations across the state that are dedicated to advancing mental well-being!
The Foundation is seeking proposals from Florida-based nonprofits that are designed to support innovative and effective solutions and that:
- Address community mental health challenges; or
- Increase the pipeline of mental health professionals
If your organization is passionate about promoting mental well-being, addressing unmet needs, and fostering a healthier and more resilient Florida, we encourage you to apply!
Eligible applicants must complete and submit an online application by Monday, May 5, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Let's work together to improve mental health and well-being across Florida!
Florida Blue Foundation’s programs are focused on improving health by impacting food security, advancing mental well-being, growing healthy communities, and addressing health disparities. This funding opportunity is focused on Mental Well-being.
Description of the 2025 Mental Well-being Grant Program
Goal: Advance mental well-being for families and community members to mitigate the stressors associated with issues that often impact entire families and/or communities.
Background
At Florida Blue and the Florida Blue Foundation, we believe there is no health without mental health which guides how we support the people and communities we serve.
The Foundation seeks to fund programs that support children, teens, adults, and/or seniors that are struggling to manage life’s stressors, including social isolation and loneliness; as well as programs that are increasing the pipeline of mental health professionals.
Prevention (CDC), approximately one in five adults and one in six youth experience a mental health episode each population living in rural areas, and about one-fifth of those individuals, or around 6.5 million people, struggling
Social isolation and loneliness are pervasive problems in the U.S., posing a significant threat to our mental and physical health. In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness a public health epidemic, facing a mental health crisis that affects people of all ages.
Furthermore, rural communities are disproportionately affected, with approximately one-fifth of the US health challenges faced by rural communities.
This highlights the need for targeted support and resources to address the unique mental emphasizing its profound consequences for individual and societal health.
A severe workforce shortage further exacerbates the mental health crisis.
Behavioral Health for GuideWell and Florida Blue notes that "we do not have enough psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to address the current demand efficiently, and are facing a significant behavioral health people) lives in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area (Mental Health HPSA).
Florida ranks 35th among all states for the prevalence of mental illness and is one of the five worst states for mental healthcare.
Moreover, over 6 million people in Florida live in communities with inadequate mental health professionals.
To make matters worse, Florida has a severe shortage of mental health providers, with a staggering 550-to-1 ratio of residents to mental health providers, ranking 43rd in the nation.
In response to these challenges, the Florida Blue Foundation is committed to supporting nonprofit organizations that provide mental well-being services or increase the pipeline of mental health professionals. Through our Mental Well-being grant program, we will award three- and four-year grants to organizations with documented expertise and experience in delivering mental well-being services or training mental health professionals.
