RHEF Rapid Response Grants

About RHEF Rapid Response Grants

RHEF Rapid Response grants were the first of two funding cycles for the Reproductive Health Equity Fund (For more about Systems Change Grants, see this page). Rapid Response grants provide funds to address short-term and immediate needs related to barriers to reproductive healthcare, including to ease the burden on Oregon healthcare providers.

Definition and Examples of Short-Term and Immediate Needs Funding

In the first funding cycle, the Fund will invest in immediate needs and short-term projects whose goals are to rapidly expand access to abortions and other reproductive health services. 

Minimum Grant Amount: $25,000
Maximum Grant Amount: $500,000

We define immediate-needs projects as those that:

  • Expand reproductive health equity and access
  • Can be accomplished within 6 months (e.g. purchased, implemented or hired – not necessarily that projects are completed)
  • Are one-time projects and have fixed costs

Priority Populations RHEF Hopes to Serve

Because of systemic exclusion from reproductive health services, the Fund will prioritize investing in organizations and providers that:

  • Led by Black, Indigenous, Latino/a, Asian Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, immigrant populations, and other marginalized communities in Oregon (ie. LGBTQ+, disabled, etc.)
  • Are culturally specific and provide participant culturally responsive programming
  • Are expanding or starting reproductive health programming and outreach to rural, Tribal, LGBTQ+, disabled, immigrant communities, and communities of color.

Meet the Grantees

Eighteen organizations, including abortion care providers and community groups providing patient navigation services, are receiving funding from the Reproductive Health Equity Fund to support “Rapid Response” projects. These
projects focus on urgent and immediate needs related to barriers to reproductive healthcare, including to ease the burden on Oregon healthcare providers, who have experienced significant increase in the demand for abortion care since the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022. 

The awards include a $1 million grant to the Northwest Abortion Access Fund (NWAAF), previously announced in June 2022, $2.4 million to reproductive healthcare providers to upgrade facilities, expand capacity, train abortion providers, and support patients, and $1.7 million to organizations embedded in historically underserved communities to support expanded outreach and patient navigation services.

RHEF Rapid Response Awards summary

 

Organization Name

Project title

Description

Cascade AIDS Project

Prism Health Albina Clinic

To increase the availability of high quality, gender- and sexuality- affirming reproductive healthcare, including full-options counseling, and LGBTQ-specific primary care by up to 3,000 additional patients at a new Prism clinic; funds support renovation, equipment, and security features that directly advance Prism’s capacity to provide affirming reproductive care in a safe and responsive environment.

Center for Reproductive Health Equity at OHSU

Post-Dobbs 

Clinical Service

Expansion

To meet increased demand for abortion care through an expansion of clinical services and to improve support for patient coordination.

The Lilith Clinic

Clinic Enhancements

To serve an increasing number of abortion patients without significant increases in wait time by increasing clinic and staffing capacity and adding security measures.

Multnomah County Community Health Center

Advanced Practice Clinician Fellowship and Clinic Upgrades

To increase primary care provider retention through the Advanced Practice Clinician Fellowship program, which provides newly graduated Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to learn and gain experience in the primary care provider role, including the delivery of reproductive health care services, in communities that are historically underserved and experience barriers to health care. To improve patient experiences of trauma-informed reproductive health services, including gynecological care, by modernizing clinic equipment, including exam tables and pap lights.

Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette

Expanded Reproductive Health Care Access

To meet increased demand for abortion care through (1) patient assistance funding for medical, travel, lodging, childcare and other costs that would otherwise create barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health care, and (2) updated medical equipment.

Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon

Southwestern Oregon Recruitment and Health Center Enhancements

. To expand patient access to abortion care throughout the Southwestern Oregon region with a focus on the Rogue Valley through the recruitment, incentivization, and hiring of six additional health center providers across the region. To better engage in advocacy and education services in the region and increase staff satisfaction and retention in the area. In addition, to increase abortion services and capacity, address delays in care for patients, and to increase security through the renovation and construction of procedure and recovery rooms at the Medford Health Center, and to to meet immediate and future needs for timely reproductive healthcare services in the Grants Pass area through the acquisition of a new ultrasound machine.

Northwest Abortion Access Fund

Abortion Fund Expansion

To meet the significant increase in patient support needs for people seeking abortion care in Oregon and the Northwest region, including assistance to cover the cost of procedures, transportation and safe lodging, and to recruit new volunteers of color through the introduction of a BIPOC cash grants program. 

Haymarket Pole Collective

Gender and pregnancy sex worker support project

To address the unique barriers to family planning and abortion care faced by Black, Indigenous and transgender sex workers, as well as LGBTQIIA+, gender expansive, and sex workers of color by providing stipends for individuals recovering from abortion or seeking gender-affirming care, providing full-spectrum doula training specific to sex workers, and increased security measures.

Daisy C.H.A.I.N.

Doula and Lactation Health Services and Training

To increase equitable access to high quality reproductive health services for marginalized pregnant, birthing, and parenting clients individuals at-risk of falling through service gaps in Lane County by providing direct support to individuals seeking abortion care, full-spectrum doula and lactation consultant training, and wage/benefit support to ensure continued community outreach and workforce continuity for skilled doula and lactation consultants.

Black Joy Oregon & Portland Family Doulas

Community Doula Project

To expand the benefits of having a doula to communities that have been historically excluded and neglected from equitable healthcare access. This program invests in culturally competent doula training and certification and removing barriers to workforce participation for doulas (e.g., childcare, language access support, transportation), including Labor Doula Training, Postpartum & Infant Care Doula Training, Childbirth Education Training, Abortion Doula Training and Birthing Beyond the Binary Training in underserved and marginalized communities, with a goal of establishing a long-term community-based healthcare infrastructure.

Black Thistle Street Aid

Rapid Repro Response Program

To provide safe shelter and trauma-informed wraparound health and social support to unhoused individuals in need of sexual health services, including screening and prevention tools for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, emotional and physical nourishment, and resource support around the experience of an abortion/loss/miscarriage.

Micronesian Islander Community

Improving Access to Care and Services for Micronesians in Oregon

To support training and certification for members of Oregon’s Micronesian and Pacific Islander community to provide language-appropriate and culturally specific reproductive healthcare services; to provide direct patient support to increase access to healthcare services (e.g., transportation and childcare); to enroll community members in Medicaid or other health support programs; and to hire staff to expand reproductive health outreach work.

FemForward Health

Mobile Reproductive Health Clinic

FemForward Health delivers mobile reproductive healthcare, including convenient and compassionate gynecologic and early pregnancy care in communities with long waitlists or limited access to the specialized care they deserve. Our full spectrum clinic on wheels expands access to quality care, meeting patients where they are and welcoming them into a safe and supportive setting to get their reproductive healthcare needs met. Funding from the Reproductive Health Equity Fund supports FemForward in building critical capacity to serve more patients, improve accessibility and equity through medical translation services, purchase essential equipment for the mobile clinic, and upgrade our security so our community can safely access the care we all deserve.

Latinos Unidos Siempre

LUS Reproductive Liberation Youth Project

This project expands youth-led work for education justice in Salem-Keizer, which will include advocacy for higher investments by our public school district into gender and culturally affirming school-based healthcare services, education, protections and services for students. Includes direct access to reproductive justice education and comprehensive sexual health education education for youth members in Polk and Marion counties, an expansion of resource navigation services and physical resources for youth, including access to contraception and mental and emotional support, as well as access to shelter, food and clothing.

Papalaxsimisha

Tribal Reproductive Health Project

To support rural tribal community access to culturally-aware and trauma-informed education and advocacy on topics including sexual health, healthy relationships, women’s health, and mothers’ health through, through partial funding of two community advocate positions.

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