February 26, 2016 — Through The Heart Truth® Community Action Program, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) has awarded grants totaling almost $750,000 to four organizations.

The Heart Truth Community Action Program, which is jointly managed by the FNIH and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), offers grants to empower community organizations to assist women—especially those of color, low income, and/or living in rural areas—to identify personal risk factors for heart disease and to make sustainable lifestyle behavior changes that support heart health and lower their risk for heart disease. The program also aims to promote the messages associated with The Heart Truth, the NHLBI’s national awareness program about the risk of heart disease in women.

The grant recipients are:

• The Hope Heart Institute (Bellevue, WA)
• Nia, Inc. of Greater Richmond (Richmond, VA)
• The University of California, Riverside (Riverside, CA)
• West Virginia University Research Corporation / Extension Service (Morgantown, WV)

This year’s grantees will promote The Heart Truth message to a geographically broad audience and guide and fund partner organizations at the community level to implement creative, evidence-based strategies to motivate women, particularly those at high risk, to take personal action to lower or control their risk for heart disease.

Since 2009, the FNIH has awarded approximately $1.8 million to 37 organizations for creative community-level programs that encourage women to take action to lower their risk for heart disease. For more information, visit www.fnih.org/hearttruth.