UCSF Fresno has awarded two $5,000 Wellness Grants to help showcase wellness projects across the campus while also promoting the Pillars of Wellness.
The Wellbeing Grant Program was created in 2021 by the UCSF Well-being Committee. The grant program provides opportunities to support the health and well-being of the UCSF community by funding projects that promote the pillars of wellness: emotional, physical, social, financial, career, environmental and spiritual. Wellness provides funding and minimal project guidance while the applicants serve as the project leads.
This was the first year UCSF Fresno has implemented Wellness Grants. “We took some ideas from the Wellness Department at main campus and tailored them to our UCSF Fresno community,” said UCSF Fresno Campus Life Services Manager, Pha Mouavangsou.
Mouavangsou said employees at UCSF Fresno had ideas about great wellness projects but didn’t know where to ask for funding. Mouavangsou said the campus budgeted $10,000 for the initial round of grants and awarded $5,000 to two different proposals. A total of seven applications were submitted.
“We had a great turnout for the first time implementing the grant,” Mouavangsou said. “This allows us to showcase great wellness projects happening at our campus and also helps to promote the Pillars of Wellness across UCSF Fresno.”
A total of seven applications were received. Grant recipients in this first round include the Undergraduate Medical Education Group/SJV PRIME (Grace Carlson, SJV PRIME Program/PRIME+ Project Manager shown above) and Internal Medicine for their Residents (Dr. Rameen Atefi, PGY 4 Chief Resident, representing Internal Medicine).
“The idea for mini grants came from our late Assistant Dean, Dr. Lori Weichenthal,” Mouavangsou said. “She came with the idea to offer opportunities for departments to create wellness driven activities within their own departments.”
Mouavangsou said UCSF Fresno has established tracking and a schedule for reporting back on the success of the projects. “This will allow us to promote great wellness events happening across a variety of departments at UCSF Fresno including Campus Life Services.”
