Nonprofit groups expand, launch new initiatives with help from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (May 29, 2026) – More than half a dozen nonprofit organizations across Arkansas are receiving vital funding from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas. This funding will enable the organizations to expand or launch new services in communities around the state.

Each was awarded a grant for their efforts to address various social determinants of health – conditions in the environments where people live, learn, and work that can impact their health, wellbeing, and quality of life.

“The Blue & You Foundation was created to help improve the health of Arkansans, and to do that, we need to ensure people have a safe place to sleep, access to healthy food, benefit from a quality learning environment, and have the resources they need,” said Blue & You Foundation President Rebecca Pittillo. “These organizations are doing just that in a measurable and meaningful way.”

Two of those organizations include the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Our House. They are teaming up in a new program to provide respite care to unhoused Arkansans recently released from hospitalization.

“This partnership with Our House reflects our commitment to addressing the broader factors that impact health and ensuring patients can recover in safe, supportive environments,” said UAMS Provost and Chief Strategy Officer Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D. Ed.D. “By connecting individuals with resources that extend beyond the hospital, we are improving both outcomes and quality of life. We are grateful to the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas for its support in launching this program.”

A grant awarded to Women and Children First will also be used to launch a new program.

“At Women & Children First, we recognize that domestic violence survivors with cognitive and developmental disabilities often face heightened barriers to safety, healing, and access to services,” said Women & Children First Executive Director Angela McGraw. “Through support from the Blue & You Foundation, we are strengthening our trauma-informed care program through specialized advocacy, improved accessibility, adaptive equipment, and individualized support within our Family Peace Center model. Our goal is to walk alongside every survivor throughout their healing journey, ensuring they are met with compassion, dignity, and accessible support every step of the way.”

Full List of Grant Recipients

Arkansas Community Foundation: Through the AR Counts and Connects program, the Arkansas Community Foundation aims to increase participation in the 2030 census by addressing community trust, engagement and digital access. Federal funding for community needs is largely determined by census figures.

Arkansas State Council on Economic Education: Economics Arkansas works to equip educators with the knowledge and resources to prepare students for the workforce and educate them on financial planning. Through its Connecting Educators to Industry program, teachers will participate in immersive workshops to strengthen their understanding of local workforce needs and build connections with employers, prioritizing rural and underserved communities.

Well Fed Community Development Corporation: The Well Fed Community Development Corporation, Jefferson Regional Medical Center, the Jones-Dunklin Cancer Center and the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership are coming together as part of the Health Access, Education and Diet Intervention Project. Together, they will provide cancer patients who have diet-related comorbidities with nutritional education, diet intervention and improved access to quality care.

Arkansas Foodbank: The Arkansas Foodbank is expanding support for its partners through Community Resource Centers in high-need areas across 33 regions of the state. They aim to create engines of community growth by increasing access to nutritious foods and providing essential wraparound services to address the root causes of food insecurity and strengthen local support systems.

Women & Children First: Through the Forest of Hope Family Peace Center in Little Rock, Women and Children First aims to provide better access to trauma-informed care and assistance for women with developmental and cognitive disabilities who are escaping sexual and domestic violence.

University of Arkansas Foundation, Inc. (UAMS): The University of Arkansas Medical Sciences is launching a pilot program with Our House to provide medical respite care for unhoused Arkansans who are medically cleared to leave the hospital but not well enough to safely return to their previous living situation. The program will improve hospital capacity, improve recovery, reduce readmissions and complications, and provide a stable pathway to long-term employment and housing.

Arkansas Imagination Library: The statewide nonprofit, which serves families at Baptist Health and CHI St. Vincent, will expand to include new parents at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Through its work with UAMS, an additional 3,000 newborns will be enrolled in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library before they leave the hospital, entitling them to receive a free age-appropriate book each month, mailed to their home.

Canopy Northwest Arkansas: Through the Refugee Health Empowerment Initiative, Canopy will partner with WelcomeHealth and Community Clinic NWA to implement a culturally responsive healthcare navigation model that helps refugees understand health insurance options, maintain care continuity and manage gaps. The initiative aims to reduce preventable health problems, ensure timely access to healthcare and improve health outcomes.

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About the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas
The Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue
Shield Association, serves the state of Arkansas and is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In its 25
years of operation, the Blue & You Foundation has awarded more than $70 million for health
improvement programs in Arkansas. To achieve the goal of better health for all Arkansans, the Blue &
You Foundation seeks to harness the power of partnership. By strategically focusing its grant funding
on community-based solutions, the Foundation hopes to nurture community health leadership, foster
collaboration and innovation, and leverage financial, human and community resources to produce a
measurable, positive impact. To learn more about the Foundation’s investments, visit
blueandyoufoundationarkansas.org.