Grants
Centra's community grants fund ongoing programs that will improve the health and quality of life for the communities we serve.
Priorities
Beginning in 2024, we will give priority to funding community grants that address the top 5 identified needs of the most recent Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) for each of Centra’s service areas. Additionally, Centra is committed to supporting projects of regional importance which address our communities’ economic, social and community development needs.
The top five prioritized needs by region from the 2024 CHNA include:
Bedford
- Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders & Access to Services
- Access to Healthcare Services
- Food Insecurity and Nutrition
- Issues Impacting Children and their Families
- Childcare
- Child Abuse/Neglect
- Homelessness and Housing
Farmville
- Access to Healthcare Services
- Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders & Access to Services
- Food Insecurity and Nutrition
- Homelessness and Housing
- Transportation
Lynchburg
- Access to Healthcare Services
- Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders & Access to Services
- Food Insecurity and Nutrition
- Homelessness and Housing
- Issues Impacting Children and their Families
- Childcare
- Child Abuse/Neglect
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations requesting funding must be a legal entity that is tax-exempt under IRS Section 501(c)(3) or another non-profit as relevant to Centra’s funding priorities and not a private foundation as described under Section 509(a).
Projects that take place outside of Centra’s service areas will not be considered. The Centra CHNA service areas include the cities/towns of Bedford, Farmville, and Lynchburg, and the counties of Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania or Prince Edward.
The following requests are among those that will not be considered for support:
- Biomedical or clinical research
- Conference or symposium fees
- Debt reduction
- Endowments
- Organizations that discriminate based on age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.
- Individuals
- Political campaigns, candidates or partisan activities
- Projects with a religious purpose
- Scholarships
- League sports
- School-based programs such as athletics, band, chorus and theater
Grant Information
In 2020, Centra moved its community grant giving from the Centra Foundation to Centra’s Community Health Services. The dollars that are used for these funding opportunities come directly from Centra's Community Benefit contributions on behalf of the communities we serve. The Centra Foundation no longer administers or funds these grants.
| Submission Deadline | Application Open | Notified By | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/15/2025 | 4/1/2025 | 9/30/2025 |
NOTE: We recommend using Google Chrome as your browser when submitting your grant application for optimal functionality.
Please review our Frequently Asked Questions
Mandatory Grant Training
Mandatory Grant Training was held on Friday, March 28, 2025.
There have been changes to the 2025 grant application; please review the presentation slides below if you are planning to apply for a Centra Community Grant this year.
How to Apply for a Community Grant
To maximize the impact of Centra’s community contributions, we have created a user-friendly online application portal, for use by any organization requesting funding from Centra, whether a grant or a sponsorship. All applicants will be asked to create a login and submit their requests online.
For more information, please send an email to communityhealthgrants@centrahealth.com