HFNJ Building the Healthcare Workforce of the Future In Third Quarter 2025 Grants

Building this workforce is urgently needed, as the U.S. is projected to face a severe shortage of nearly 700,000 healthcare workers including physicians, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses by 2037, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

A $150,000 grant to Newark Opportunity Youth Network will support the Newark EMS Corps, which trains young people to become Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) in Newark through a partnership with RWJBarnabas Health and University Hospital. A $130,000 grant to STRIVE International will help the organization launch a healthcare workforce development initiative in Newark, NJ – replicating their evidence-based national training model supporting marginalized groups. Through STRIVE’s initiative, up to 75 young adults in Essex and Union counties will receive training for well-paying healthcare jobs, including patient care tech, patient navigator, certified medical assistant, and sterile tech.

Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey was awarded a $134,082 renewal grant to continue to expand the Essex County Doula Learning Collaborative. Through this program, community members receive training and mentorship to become certified doulas and thus support women through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. The fourth healthcare workforce development project funded this quarter is $115,000 grant to Helen Keller International to launch a pilot program to train and mentor 30-50 Newark youth to deliver vision screenings in underserved communities, ensuring access for students directly on-site at Newark schools and vulnerable adults at local community-based organizations. Studies have shown that providing glasses can lead to improved grades and better performance in class, with fewer children misdiagnosed with learning disabilities or behavioral issues.

“Healthcare workforce development offers a true win-win for the communities we serve: helping healthcare institutions meet their critical staffing needs; providing high-quality care for patients; and offering a rewarding and stable career path for individuals, many for whom this represents a real turning point in their lives,” said Michael Schmidt, Executive Director/CEO of The Healthcare Foundation. “Over the past year, we have heard repeatedly from our community partners about the dearth of qualified professionals in many healthcare specialties in the greater Newark area. We are pleased that many of this quarter’s grants will address this issue and begin building a pipeline of future healthcare professionals.”

Other grants awarded in the third quarter of 2025 address a myriad of medical and behavioral health needs. The largest grant of the quarter is a $201,075 award to The Bridge / Imani Center to support a third year of a program combatting substance use at Irvington High School.  Two awards – a $150,000 grant to Jewish Educational Center and a $150,000 grant with up to an additional $25,000 in matching funds to Rabbinical College of America – will provide for continuations of projects that seek to strengthen behavioral health supports for Jewish adolescents.  In the last year a significant rise in antisemitism has served to increase a sense of anxiety and concern among the youth in the Greater MetroWest Jewish community.  A $189,945 grant to the Boys & Girls Club of Newark will bring mental health care to more children and families through the organization’s READY Family Wellness Center.

The full list of the grants awarded in the third quarter of 2025 is as follows: