“Visualizing the data on PolicyMap allows us to see if we are alleviating gaps in service and targeting our dollars in the right places.” —Veronica Marchese, Program Manager, Community Health Impact
See how PolicyMap can help your organization.

Challenge

The Michigan Health Endowment Fund is a philanthropic foundation that works to improve the health and wellness of Michigan residents while reducing healthcare costs. The organization, which invests in programs for children and seniors through the state, often aims to target their resources towards populations most in need. By visualizing community-level data on maps, they hoped to demonstrate both the impact of their grant partners and the areas where more investment is needed.

Solution

The Health Fund selected PolicyMap as an ideal partner for visualizing Michigan communities. While other GIS tools required additional data loading, PolicyMap’s platform includes an array of health indicators and other social determinants of health (SDOH) data needed for community and impact assessments. PolicyMap also made uploading the Health Fund’s unique datasets, like grant partner locations, simple.

In collaboration with PolicyMap’s Analysis and Insights Services team, the organization created a Custom Data Menu within their PolicyMap subscription. The Custom Data Menu features datasets related to the Health Fund’s focus areas: infant mortality, health services for foster and adopted children, behavioral health services, wellness and fitness programs, access to healthy food, technology enhancements, health-related transportation needs and food-borne illness prevention.

Recognizing the power of viewing data on maps, the Health Fund shared access to the incredible tool with 50 grant partners. Grant recipients will be able to use PolicyMap data in combination with their own datasets to uncover gaps in service, improve reporting, and inform future grant applications. Through viewing the locations of other grant partners, the Health Fund hopes to connect organizations, pool knowledge and resources, and expand impact.

PolicyMap is proud to support the Health Fund’s commitment to build the capacity of their partners beyond grant dollars by investing in and sharing strategic resources.