Hepatitis B Foundation 

Hep B United Mini-Grants Program  

2023 Request for Funding Proposal  

INTRODUCTION: The Hepatitis B Foundation is offering mini-grants for one (1) year to Hep B United coalition partners working on hepatitis B education, prevention, screening, and linkage to care activities. Up to 7 awards will be given ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 each.  

ELIGIBILITY: In order to qualify for this award, applicants should be able to demonstrate that they have in place an active, local coalition focusing on hepatitis B education, screening and linkage to care activities. Eligible applicants must be current (or affiliated with) Hep B United members of at least six months with the capacity to directly implement the proposal, collect data as required, provide written reports, manage the funds appropriately and be located within the United States.  

PURPOSE: The purpose of this RFP is to enhance the capacity of Hep B United coalition partners to conduct hepatitis B (HBV) education, testing and linkage to care in their local communities. The emphasis of this RFP is focused on programs to address hepatitis B among African immigrant, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA & NH/PI) communities, and persons who use drugs (PWUD). This RFP supports activities at the local coalition level to advance the hepatitis B priority areas of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan.  

This RFP focuses on Hep B United’s Strategic Priority Areas:  

1. Increasing awareness, screening, prevention and education to reduce hepatitis B-related health disparities, including implementation of the new universal adult hepatitis B vaccination recommendations; 
2. Improving linkage to care and access to culturally and linguistically appropriate patient navigation services to prevent hepatitis B related liver disease and cancer; and/or 
3. Strengthening surveillance or community-level data collection to detect hepatitis B transmission and disease trends. 

PROPOSAL: All applicants are to focus on at least one of the priority areas above and develop related activities to support coalition building and maintenance, education and training, and testing and linkage to care efforts. Activities can include, but are not limited to:  

• Developing local coalition infrastructure (including partnership development and partner training);  
• Implementing the #justB storytelling campaign within local education and community engagement efforts; creating new story-focused educational programming, including story circles; focusing on reducing stigma, fostering open HBV discussion and move people towards screening;  
• Identifying/developing systems and strategies to educate communities and/or providers and/or implement new ACIP hepatitis B immunization recommendations for adults ages 19-59 years;  
• Increasing HBV disaggregated data (conducting formalized data collection, analysis, and/or dissemination, and/or using new technologies to collect community-based HBV screening data);  
• Identifying and addressing specific local barriers to HBV screening and linkage to care;  
• Developing and implementing strategies for reaching specific, hard-to-reach populations in your communities, to improve testing, vaccination, and/or linkage to care;  
• Developing strategies based upon a comprehensive family/household approach, to improve HBV knowledge, awareness, and testing of household/family members of infected mothers.  
• Assessing hepatitis B-related stigma in a local community and/or developing strategies to address stigma as a means to improve HBV screening.  

Project sites will be offered ongoing support and training throughout the 12-month project period. This will focus on improving skills (i.e. data collection and management; technology; IRB). Training and support will also allow project sites to make use of best practice models and existing educational tools and resources for African immigrant, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities and PWUD. Project sites will be expected to evaluate their project and complete/submit final reports to the Hepatitis B Foundation and present their findings.  

PROJECT SITE REQUIREMENTS:  

• Ongoing communication with the Hepatitis B Foundation (HBF), including regular phone calls (schedule will be determined at a mutually convenient, regular date).  
• Participation in the mini-grants training webinar (scheduled at the start of the 12-month project period).  
• Participation in monthly Hep B United coalition calls (if applicable) and Hep B United training webinars.  
• Provide a 6-month and 12-month written report that includes evaluation.  
• Provide a “lessons learned” presentation on a monthly Hep B United call, webinar, and/or annual summit. 

SUBMISSION DEADLINE  

All items must be submitted by 5:00 PM PST on August 3, 2023 online via this link. Any questions you might have please send via email to: Shreya.Koirala@hepb.org. 

PROPOSAL FORMAT: The application, should be submitted online here:

Hep B United Mini Grant Review Form 

Eligibility:

1. Are you currently an official HBU coalition affiliated with a local hepatitis B coalition in the United States? 
2. If you answered Yes to question 1, have you been a member of HBU for more than six months? 
3. Eligibility: Are you planning to focus on PWUD, African immigrants, Asian Americans, and/or Pacific Islander communities within your proposal? 

Description of Coalition/Organization:

1. Address  
2. Primary Grant Point of Contact
3. Organization Mission
4. How many individuals did your organization serve in the last fiscal year?
5. Briefly describe the services you provided within the last fiscal year.
6. Please describe the populations you serve (race/ethnicities, languages, age, other key demographics).
7. Please provide an overview of your coalition/organization including your history, membership, priorities. 
8. Please describe your coalition’s/organization’s previous work related to hepatitis B within PWUD, African immigrant, Asian American and/or Pacific Islander communities. 
9. Please describe any data that has been collected within your coalition or organization related to hepatitis B and PWUD, African immigrant, Asian American and/or Pacific Islander communities.  
10. Is your coalition/organization current receiving funding for hepatitis B activities? 

Description of Project:

1.  What HBU priority area(s) does your project focus on?
2. Are the communities you serve represented in your program’s staff or leadership? 
3. Please describe the goals and activities of your project.
4. Please describe the expected impact of your project, and why this project is needed in your community.

Letter of Support:

1. Please provide at least two letters of support for your application. 

All questions and answers will be posted on the Hep B United website, to ensure that everyone will have access to responses. Those interested in applying are strongly encouraged to email questions beforehand to Shreya Koirala at Shreya.Koirala@hepb.org. 

If you are interested in helping HBU review applicants, please reach out to Frank Hood at frank.hood@hepb.org. Reviewers can not also be an applicant. 

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About the Hepatitis B Foundation: The nation’s leading nonprofit organization solely dedicated to finding a cure for hepatitis B and improving the quality of life for those affected worldwide through research, education and patient advocacy, the Hepatitis B Foundation is based in Doylestown, Pa., with an office in Washington, D.C. To learn more, go to www.hepb.org, read our blog at hepb.org/blog, follow us on Twitter @HepBFoundation, find us on Facebook at facebook.com/hepbfoundation or call 215-489-4900. To donate, contact Jean Holmes at 215-489-4900 or jean.holmes@hepb.org.

About Hep B United: Hep B United is a national coalition established by the Hepatitis B Foundation and the Association of Asian and Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) to address the public health challenge of hepatitis B by increasing awareness, screening, vaccination and linkage to care for all Americans, with a particular focus on Asian-American and Pacific Islander populations that are disproportionately impacted. To learn more, visit www.hepbunited.org.

This program was created in part using funds from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention under award #5NU51PS005196-02. The views expressed in written materials or publications do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.