Opportunity Overview
Copper Shores Community Health Foundation (CSCHF) accepts Non-RFP grant applications on an ongoing basis for projects aligned with its health-focused goals in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon Counties. Funding depends on available resources and alignment with foundation priorities. There is currently no active targeted RFP, but the rolling Non-RFP pathway remains available.
Eligible Applicants
Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, local unit of government, or public institution of education; be domiciled in Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and/or Ontonagon Counties and serve residents there; maintain required IRS and charitable-solicitation status unless exempt; have filed the most recent 990-series return; provide required audited/reviewed or compiled financial statements; and demonstrate capacity to execute and report on the grant.
Priority Areas and Evaluation
CSCHF priorities include safe and healthful communities, improved access to mental and physical health services, nutrition, wellness and resilience, financial stability, and higher-education access. Applications are evaluated for mission alignment, unmet health need, measurable goals, a complete project budget, sustainability, long-term impact or needed innovation, use of best practices or science-based methodologies, collaboration, and replicability.
Submission and Restrictions
All funding requests must use the foundation’s grant application. A Letter of Inquiry is strongly suggested but not mandatory. The public materials do not state a maximum Non-RFP award, a fixed deadline, a mandatory match/cost share, or detailed technology/vendor procurement rules. Multi-year requests are generally not accepted without first contacting CSCHF. Excluded uses include loans, religious or political purposes, discriminatory organizations, requests that only maintain an existing program or fill a budget gap, and grants to for-profit businesses.
Atlas Strategic Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 90/100.
N9+ Fit Score: 82/100, conditional applicant-led fit. The funder’s explicit focus on improving access to physical and mental health services and supporting needed innovation creates a credible pathway for a nonprofit, governmental, or public-education applicant to propose a telehealth-enabled care-access project. However, the public Non-RFP guidance does not expressly identify telehealth hardware, remote physical exam equipment, or vendor/subcontract costs as allowable, so Atlas should verify those project-specific costs before positioning N9+. Dr. Miltie, LLC is expressly ineligible as the prime grantee because for-profit businesses are excluded.
Current technology precedent: Copper Shores’ September 11, 2026 capital awards include $68,500 to Unitē Mental Health & Wellness for aging technology, telehealth equipment, therapy-space and accessibility upgrades, plus $60,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters for technology infrastructure, systems integration, website and data-management improvements. These awards establish current funder precedent for technology and telehealth equipment when tied to a documented community need, but they do not automatically establish allowability under every general Non-RFP request. Project-specific confirmation remains required before N9+ or other clinical technology is budgeted.
Recommended Applicant Strategy
Prioritize eligible local public-health, behavioral-health, healthcare-serving nonprofit, and public-education organizations with a clearly documented unmet health-access need. Define measurable outcomes, sustainability, collaboration, and an evidence-based service model before submitting an LOI or full application through the Copper Shores grants portal.
Verified source: Copper Shores Grants and the linked Grant Policy and Guidelines.