BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota schools, local governments and organizations can apply for a combined $3.6 million in grant money now available through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program.
The money, meant to help rural and tribal communities, will go toward three different grants: $2.6 million for walking programs, $700,000 for before-school physical education classes and $300,000 for community gardens.
The $2.6 million will support up to 20 walking programs in communities across the state to improve residents’ physical and mental wellbeing, according to the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services.
Interim Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor said the agency wants community leaders to head up eight-week walking challenges. The agency will provide training for successful applicants to help them design their programs, he said.
“Walking is one of the best exercises,” Traynor said. “We hope it becomes commonplace.”
The grant is open to organizations including local government groups — like cities, towns, park districts and public health entities — as well as health care facilities and nonprofits. Awards will be between $25,000 and $125,000, according to the agency.
Another $700,000 is available for middle schools and high schools to hold 30-45 minute aerobic exercise classes in the morning before school starts. Example activities listed by the agency include jogging, kickboxing and pilates.
The Department of Health and Human Services said in documents announcing the grant that before-school exercise programs make students healthier and improve their focus for the rest of the day. Awards will be between $10,000 to $70,000.
The last $300,000 is earmarked to support public gardens, with the goal of giving rural and tribal communities better access to healthy, local produce.
For example, a school could create a garden as an avenue to teach students science and healthy eating, the agency wrote in an information packet about the grant. Other groups, like local government entities, faith communities and nonprofits can also apply. The state expects to give 10 awards each totaling about $30,000.
For each grant, money can go toward expenses including staffing, training, purchasing equipment, marketing the program and more.
Proposals will be scored on factors including the long-term sustainability of the project, how much it will help rural communities and whether the programs’ success can be adequately measured. All applications have to be approved by both the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The window to apply for the three grants ends May 22.
The agency will host conference calls for those with questions about the grants in early May. For more information, visit the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program website.
The $3.6 million comes from the $17.1 million the state has set aside to promote healthy lifestyles for its first year of Rural Health Transformation Program funding.
More grants — including in the areas of behavioral health, funding for housing for students pursuing health care degrees and medical equipment for essential health care services — are expected to become available before May, Traynor said.
North Dakota’s first grant opportunity under the Rural Health Transformation Program, which made $10 million available to help critical access hospitals retain workers, opened in March.
That came out of a larger pot of about $32.2 million in Rural Health Transformation Program money the state plans to dedicate to workforce issues this year.
As of Tuesday, one facility had applied for the first grant, Traynor said. Another 63 applications had been opened, he said.
After April 30, the grant will be open to not just critical access hospitals, but other organizations, too.
North Dakota has been authorized for $199 million for the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program. The state plans to give out most of that money in the form of grants.
The state has just a handful of months to process and approve applications for the 2026 round of funding. North Dakota is required by federal law to commit the money by the end of October and spend it within the following year.
North Dakota lawmakers in January convened for a three-day special session to create a budget for the program, which then was submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for final review.
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