For the past 10 years, the Moses Taylor Foundation has been a trusted partner with organizations throughout the region in identifying and addressing community health needs. Here, in our Report to the Community, Foundation board members, staff, and grantees reflect on past and current accomplishments, and where future initiatives and grantmaking can continue to make a difference.
Report to the Community Features
In the nonprofit sector, evaluation can be intimidating. It’s viewed as a critical ruler that measures a program’s value and worth. A compliance requirement that organizations use to secure funding. A hoop funders require grantees to jump through. We see it differently.
We know the complex, incremental work of improving people’s health and transforming a community is tough. Progress can be difficult to measure and results can shift as circumstances do. An intentional commitment to learning is our best tactic to gauge impact, direct finite resources, and know when it’s time to change course.
We embrace an approach to evaluation and learning that puts our partners and the people they serve at the center. We encourage our partners to ask questions and set metrics that give them the insight and information they need to do their work well. In turn, we use our grantees’ progress reports to instruct us on where we need to invest more or invest differently to achieve our shared goals.
Throughout this biennial report we highlight stories of how our partners are using evaluation and learning to inform their work. With each story we also share our own learning journey—what we’re learning about what it takes to be a valued community partner, and to support and catalyze meaningful impact in Northeast Pennsylvania.
This annual report highlights grant-funded projects in the Foundation’s five priority areas: primary healthcare, behavioral health, oral health, healthcare workforce, and human services that promote good health. Collectively, they tell the story of how we are partnering to improve health in Northeast Pennsylvania.
In the coming years, we look forward to deepening relationships with existing grantees and expanding our partnerships across the region. We commit to continue investing our resources to respond to community needs. At the same time, we look forward to exploring where the Foundation can target a portion of its resources to catalyze transformative impact.
This is an opportunity to write the next chapter in our region’s health – together.
As the delivery of healthcare and the health needs of our region continue to evolve, our commitment to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities remains the same. Thank you for your partnership and your essential contributions to our unfolding story.
