The Episcopal Presbyterian Health Trust (EPHT) 2026 Collaborative Funding Cycle is open for qualifying nonprofit collaborations serving EPHT’s defined St. Louis-area health-access geography. EPHT is focused on removing barriers to care, navigating systems of care, and supporting person-centered medical services, with particular relevance to access to primary care, chronic-disease management, integrated mental and behavioral health, mobile or clinic-based care, school-based health clinics, and virtual-care models that address barriers such as device, network, and affordability access.
Funding: EPHT states that collaborative funding has not been capped. Award size will depend on factors including the number of participating organizations, services provided, and total service hours. Collaborative applicants may request multiyear funding. The separate $25,000 annual maximum applies to the individual/open cycle, not the collaborative cycle.
Deadline: Collaborative proposals are due October 2, 2026. The controlling EPHT grants page and 2026 Funding Guide do not publish an exact submission cutoff time or time zone, so Atlas does not infer one. EPHT states that awards are expected in early December 2026.
Eligibility: The lead applicant must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in good standing or have a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor in good standing. The collaborative cycle is for organizations working together to execute health and mental-health programming. EPHT defines a qualifying collaboration as organizations that remit payment to one another for services, share staff, and/or share locations; a standard referral relationship alone is not sufficient. One lead organization submits the proposal and must clearly describe the collective work and shared expenses. Organizations may submit only one Stage One application per calendar year.
Geography: Applicants must demonstrate a strong connection to EPHT’s geographic focus of 25 ZIP codes in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and the East Metro. The 2026 application lists 62201, 62203, 62204, 63101, 63102, 63103, 63104, 63106, 63107, 63112, 63113, 63114, 63115, 63118, 63120, 63121, 63133, 63134, 63135, 63136, 63137, 63138, 63140, 63147, and 63155. Applicants must show that the proposed work serves these communities or otherwise has a strong, targeted connection to them.
Program priorities: EPHT’s 2026 guidelines emphasize primary care that addresses barriers, care navigation, chronic-disease screening and management, health care needs related to community violence, and integrated mental and behavioral health. Supported models may include trusted community locations, expanded hours, co-located services, mobile or clinic-based care, school-based health clinics, and virtual-care approaches that directly address access barriers. Chronic-disease priorities include diabetes, heart disease, asthma, sexually transmitted diseases, and sickle cell disease.
Eligible and ineligible costs: EPHT accepts project/program funding and general operating support and requires a detailed grant budget and optional budget narrative. The public 2026 materials do not publish a categorical list of technology, equipment, software, subscription, clinical-service, or vendor costs that are automatically eligible or ineligible. Atlas therefore does not treat any N9+, telehealth, or other Dr. Miltie cost as approved without applicant and funder confirmation. Limited transportation support and limited healthy-food programming may be considered when integrated with qualifying health services.
Match/cost share and procurement: The controlling materials do not state a mandatory non-Federal match or cost-share requirement. This is a private charitable grant rather than a Missouri state procurement; MissouriBUYS registration, bidder bonding, and state-vendor qualifications are not published requirements. Each applicant remains responsible for its own contracting, purchasing, conflict-of-interest, and internal approval rules.
Forms and qualifications: The online application asks applicants to verify nonprofit or fiscal-sponsor status, describe the health-care priority and population served, identify priority ZIP codes, describe the project and care team, explain health-disparity experience and community voice, define outcomes and scaling plans, describe partnerships, submit a grant budget, and upload the most recent audit or specified tax/financial alternatives. Collaborative applicants must also identify participating partners, the work performed by each, payments or shared expenses, estimated service hours, and estimated cost per service hour. Authorized signatory and payment-contact information are also required.
Submission method and contact: Proposals are submitted through the St. Louis Community Foundation online grants portal. EPHT encourages collaborative applicants to contact St. Louis Community Foundation staff before submission. Grantmaking is administered by the St. Louis Community Foundation, and grant-process questions may be directed to grants@stlgives.org.
Atlas fit: Atlas Opportunity Score: 88/100. N9+ Fit: 82/100 conditional. The fit is legitimate because EPHT expressly supports primary care that addresses access barriers, mobile care, school-based health clinics, chronic-disease screening/management, integrated health and mental-health programming, and virtual-care models that address device, network, and affordability barriers. Nonagon N9+ could support a qualifying applicant-led model involving guided physical examinations, objective vital-sign capture, telehealth-enabled clinical encounters, chronic-disease follow-up, or school/community access points. However, equipment, platform, subscription, implementation, and service costs are not automatically allowable under the public guidance and must be confirmed before budgeting or outreach claims. QC Healthcare/other Dr. Miltie Fit: 35/100 conditional, primarily as a technology or implementation partner in a genuine applicant collaboration.
Applicant targeting: Appropriate Missouri prospects are 501(c)(3) or fiscally sponsored organizations already operating in EPHT priority ZIP codes and able to document a real health-and-mental-health collaboration through shared staff, shared locations, or payment for services. Atlas should prioritize organizations operating school-based health clinics, community primary-care programs, mobile care, chronic-disease programs, care-navigation services, or co-located integrated-care models. A standard referral partnership by itself is not sufficient for this cycle.
Dr. Miltie direct eligibility: Dr. Miltie, LLC is not a verified direct applicant because the lead applicant must be a qualifying 501(c)(3) organization or use a qualifying fiscal sponsor, and the cycle requires an existing substantive collaboration. Dr. Miltie may participate only as a legitimate technology or implementation vendor/partner selected by an eligible applicant, subject to funder cost allowability and the applicant’s own procurement rules.