Healthy Advisory Committee approves interim funding while Healthy Neighborhoods grant is redesigned

The Fitchburg Healthy Advisory Committee voted unanimously on Aug. 5 to approve resolution R15426, authorizing interim 2027 funding of $20,000 each to Rooted, the River Food Pantry, Allied Food Pantry and Badger Prairie while the city redesigns its Healthy Neighborhoods grant program.

Staff introduced the proposal as a continuity measure so essential neighborhood services remain funded while the committee develops a new, neighborhood-focused solicitation process. "So we'll fund those 4 for 2027 while we do the redesign," the staff member said, summarizing the interim distribution and the committee's intent to pause the current application process during the redesign.

Committee members sought clarity about the scope and milestones for the redesign. One member said the redesign should flip the current model from provider-driven proposals to priorities set by neighborhood needs: "This is what we need as a city," the chair explained, describing an approach where the committee defines neighborhood priorities and issues requests for proposals accordingly. Committee member Sharif Ochiman said, "I'm still a little bit in the blind here with regards to the redesign," pressing staff for more concrete milestones to ensure the process completes on schedule.

Staff outlined a loose timetable: collect information from city departments, residents and community organizations through the remainder of 2026, synthesize the findings in early 2027, and prepare documents for committee and council review so changes can be approved around late August–September ahead of a 2028 rollout. With no further debate, the committee called the vote; the resolution passed unanimously with four members present.

Next steps: staff will begin the data collection phase immediately and return to the committee with progress updates as the redesign moves toward formal approval steps later in 2027.