SITKA — The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Community Transformation Grant program is offering sub-award grants to community groups in Southeast Alaska interested in improving the health of their communities.

“Communities have the best ideas about what will work for them,” SEARHC Community Transformation Grant Program Manager Martha Pearson said. “The Community Transformation Grant program gives communities the opportunity to develop and implement their own initiatives to prevent chronic diseases, which are the leading causes of death and disability in Southeast Alaska.”

The national Community Transformation Grant program, which includes SEARHC, is funded by the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund. The program is expected to run for five years and reach more than one in three U.S. citizens — about 120 million Americans.

According to the funding objectives, projects should be policy-driven and have a well-planned strategy to address at least one of the three focus issues:

• Tobacco-free living;

• Active living and healthy eating; and

• High-impact quality clinical and other preventive services to prevent and control high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

A few examples of projects that might qualify for funding include:

• Instituting standards-based physical education instruction in schools;

• Promoting healthy eating by supporting local farmers and developing small grocery stores where people live;

• Protecting people from secondhand smoke exposure; or

• Improving community environments to make it safe and easy for people to walk and ride bikes.

Grant amounts will vary depending on the project and the number of people served. Organizations can choose to apply for grants of $5,000 to $24,750. Five to eight awards will be issued in 2012-13. Proposals for fall 2012 are due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 19 (postmarks are accepted). Only one proposal per group will be considered.

For more information and to get a copy of the Request For Proposal, contact Martha Pearson at 966-8783 or martha.pearson@searhc.org or look for the RFP at http://www.searhc.org/.