2018 Community Service Grantees

Posted:Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Massage Therapy Foundation 2018 Community Service Grantees

The Massage Therapy Foundation is excited to announce the award of four Community Service Grants for the 2018 granting cycle. MTF’s Community Service Grants bring the benefits of massage therapy to people who desperately need them, but would otherwise not have access to massage. To date MTF has granted over $400,000 to grantees ranging from prisoners transitioning back to society, to children orphaned by the Japanese tsunami, to farm laborers in Central Mexico. 2018 Grantees are as follows:

Disability-Competent Massage Therapy for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury & Related Disabilities
Chanda Plan Foundation, Lakewood, CO

This grant provides therapeutic massage to individuals with long-term physical disabilities at the Chanda Center for Health. The objective of massage therapy services for individuals with long-term physical disabilities is to relieve or eliminate pain, reduce side effects and symptoms, and return each participant to the greatest level of functioning and health possible. This grant is supported by a gift from Biotone.

Mom and Baby Healthy Touch Project
Mary’s Center, Washington D.C.

MTF funding will deliver massage therapy to 16 low-income minority women with postpartum depression/anxiety who cannot afford professional massage services. Goals of this project include demonstrating the effectiveness of massage as an adjunct treatment to reduce the effects of depression/anxiety in mothers and to improving mother-baby bonding. It may inspire other organizations to include massage in their treatment modalities for women who suffer from post-partum depression /anxiety.

Combatting the Opioid Epidemic by Providing Massage Therapy to People with Chronic Pain
US Pain Foundation, Inc., Middletown, CT

Massage therapy will be administered to uninsured and underinsured Pima County residents in Tucson, Arizona who are living with chronic pain. This project includes a self-massage educational component to help participants continue to receive the benefit of massage at home. The goal is to reduce opioid use and emergency room visits in those suffering from chronic pain by reducing pain and anxiety and improving sleep. This grant is supported by a gift from Biotone.

Massage Therapy for Survivors
Womankind, New York, NY

Trauma-informed massage therapy will be delivered to Asian American NYC-area survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking in addition to the counseling services already offered. Research shows that holistic services, such as massage therapy, greatly increase recovery likelihood and quality. The goal is reduction of psychological and physical symptoms of distress, increase in trust and positive perception of the body, and the establishment of healthy interpersonal connections for survivors.

Grants open on an annual basis. Learn more at www.massagetherapyfoundation.org/grants-and-contests

Read about MTF Community Service Grants from previous years: www.massagetherapyfoundation.org/community-service/past-cs-grants/

For more information contact;

Marla Gamze, Communications and Development Manager, 847.905.1635
mgamze@massagetherapyfoundation.org