Recovery Act funds for Public Health

It seems that some public health agencies have access to Recovery Act funds to do specific new things.

The challenge is to figure out how to spend that money in a way that makes a difference during the two years you have it, without losing those gains at the end of the time. One way to approach such an opportunity is to think in terms of start-up funding. Spend the money (time, effort) building something that can then go by itself.

Perhaps in two years you can build something that creates more community health and generates sufficient revenue on its own to support itself through user fees. Perhaps you can build something that generates sufficiently impressive results after two years that you can interest some other funder-- one that values the outcomes you are creating. Perhaps at the end of two years, you operationalize your exit plan: your agency steps back and the program is taken over by an external partner who cares about it and can run it sustainably, with the thanks and blessing of your busy staff!