Whole Life Wellness Center

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Executive Summary

Whole Life Wellness Center is a nonprofit in Michigan that offers free mindfulness groups, stress reduction, wellness coaching and mental health education to adults in underserved communities who have little or no access to traditional mental health services. We meet people where they live, at libraries, churches and community centers, and we connect anyone who needs more help with licensed providers.

Many adults struggle with stress, worry and isolation. Therapy can cost too much, wait lists are long and some people do not know where to start. A weekly group with a trained coach can give people tools to cope, a place to be heard and a path to more help.

With this grant we will serve about 120 adults in Year 1 at 3 community sites. We are not a treatment program and do not diagnose or treat any condition. We promise a safe, respectful group, honest information and a quick connection to licensed help for anyone who needs it.

Our Year 1 budget is about $144,500, growing to about $194,000 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 5 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a half-time Program Director and three part-time coaches) and 9 by Year 5.

We are asking the Great Lakes Community Health Foundation for $55,000 for the Program Director, coach stipends, curriculum materials and participant stipends. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Whole Life Wellness Center is a nonprofit organization in Michigan. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. To reduce the barriers between people who need support and the people and tools that can help.

What we do.
- Run weekly mindfulness and stress reduction groups at three community sites.
- Offer individual wellness coaching sessions focused on goals and coping skills.
- Hold mental health education workshops on topics such as sleep, stress and talking with family.
- Help participants find licensed providers, low-cost clinics and community resources.
- Offer stipends for transportation and childcare.
- Train and support community wellness coaches.

What we do not do. We do not provide therapy, diagnose conditions or prescribe anything. Our coaches are not clinicians. If a participant is in crisis, we follow a written plan that includes the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and 911. We explain the limits of confidentiality, including mandatory reporting of suspected abuse, at the first session. We do not promise any health result.

How we got here. A group of counselors, nurses and neighbors began hosting free relaxation evenings in a library. People kept coming and many asked for more. We kept simple records and listened to what participants said. This proposal asks for support to move to a steady program with trained coaches and clinical supervision.

Problem & Opportunity

Many adults need support for stress, worry and loneliness and cannot find it.

Cost. Counseling can cost more than a household can pay each week, and many insurance plans cover few visits or none.

Waiting and distance. Clinics may have waiting lists of weeks or months and may be far away. Transportation and childcare can end a plan before it begins.

Stigma and not knowing where to start. Some adults do not seek help because they fear judgment or do not know what to ask.

Lack of everyday tools. Many people have never been taught simple skills for slowing down, sleeping better or handling a hard day.

What we hear.
- A nurse's aide says she goes home too tired to think and has no one to talk to.
- A father says he lost a job and feels he cannot tell his family how scared he is.
- A librarian says patrons ask where they can find help with stress.
- A pastor says his members need more than he can provide.

We do not claim that a wellness group can solve every challenge. We believe that a welcoming place, simple skills and an honest connection to licensed help can make a difference.

Products & Services

Whole Life Wellness Center brings simple, practical wellness skills to the community and connects people with more help when they want it.

How the program works.
1. Sites. We partner with three community sites in high-need neighborhoods that provide space at no or low cost.
2. Weekly groups. Each site hosts a weekly mindfulness and stress reduction group led by a trained wellness coach and a co-facilitator.
3. Coaching. Participants may meet one-on-one with a coach for short sessions about goals and coping skills.
4. Workshops. We hold monthly workshops on topics chosen by participants.
5. Referrals. Coaches share a list of licensed providers and help participants make a first call.
6. Crisis plan. Every coach is trained in our written plan for a participant in crisis, including 988 and 911.
7. Support. Stipends help with transportation and childcare so cost does not keep anyone away.

Coaches. Our coaches complete a training program, pass a background check and meet monthly with a licensed clinical supervisor.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. We welcome everyone and offer materials in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Adults ages 18 and older in underserved neighborhoods who have limited access to mental health services and want to build skills for stress and wellbeing. Eligibility is based on where a person lives and income guidelines our board sets, and no one is turned away for lack of experience.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every adult who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our library evenings we served a full room each time and kept a waiting list. Clinics, libraries and churches told us that more people ask for help than they can send us. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 120 adults at 3 sites. By Year 5, with more coaches and sites, we plan to serve about 280.

Where participants come from.
- Libraries, churches and community centers.
- Primary care clinics and social service offices.
- Employers and workforce programs.
- Participants who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families benefit from calmer homes. Clinics benefit from a place to refer people who are not ready for therapy. Employers benefit from healthier workers.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is an adult who found a place to breathe. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What adults can find today, and how we are different.

1. Counseling practices and clinics. They provide essential treatment. Costs, waits and distance put them out of reach for many. We refer participants who need more and do not replace them.

2. Employee assistance and insurance programs. They help people who have them. Many of our participants do not.

3. Crisis lines. Vital in an emergency. They are not a regular place to build skills. We train coaches to connect participants to them.

4. Meditation studios and apps. They offer fine instruction, at a cost, and many are not built for people with little time or money.

5. Faith and community groups. They offer care and community. We work with them and offer a skills-based option.

What makes us different.
- Free and close to home.
- Trained coaches with clinical supervision.
- A written crisis plan and quick referrals.
- Childcare and transportation stipends.
- Materials in English and Spanish.

We have spoken with clinics and other wellness programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How participants and partners will find us.

Reaching participants.
- Libraries, churches and centers. We will post flyers and hold open sessions where people already gather.
- Clinics and social service offices. We will give staff a short referral form and a named contact.
- Employers and workforce programs. We will offer a brief talk and a free workshop.
- Word of mouth. Many participants will find us through a friend.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option, with information in English and Spanish.

Reaching coaches and volunteers.
- Invite counselors, nurses, peer supporters and community leaders to train as coaches.
- Offer a training course, a background check and monthly supervision.
- Pay coaches a stipend so the program does not rely only on unpaid work.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for people who live near the sites and have no other support. We keep a waiting list when groups are full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, referrals made and how many participants return for a second session.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the Program Director, recruit and train the coaches, finalize the consent form, confidentiality policy and crisis plan with our attorney and a clinical supervisor and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Begin weekly groups at three sites.
- Months 4 to 10: Hold weekly groups, coaching sessions and monthly workshops, with a supervisor meeting each month.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey participants, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Groups meet in rooms at libraries, churches and community centers, provided at no or low cost.

Safety, confidentiality and privacy.
- Every coach and volunteer passes a background check and completes training.
- Coaches follow our crisis plan, call 988 or 911 when needed and tell the clinical supervisor the same day.
- We explain the limits of confidentiality at the first session.
- Records are kept private, shared only with permission or as the law requires, and handled under a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $6,000 of equipment once at the start: laptops and a projector ($3,000), chairs, cushions and quiet-room supplies for three sites ($2,000) and a tablet for sign-in and surveys ($1,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Director works about half time at a full-time pay of $56,000 and manages sites, coaches and referrals. Three part-time wellness coaches each receive a stipend of $5,000 a year. A licensed clinical supervisor, paid from the training line, reviews our approach every month. We add coaches as we add sites.

Management & Organization

Patricia Lawson, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a hospital social worker who saw how many people went home without tools or support. I will complete the training we require of our coaches so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Program Director. The Program Director manages sites, coaches, the crisis plan and referrals. We will hire someone with experience in mental health, social work or community health. Half of this position is part of our grant request.

Wellness Coaches. Part-time coaches who lead groups and coaching sessions. Each passes a background check, completes training and meets monthly with a licensed clinical supervisor.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a licensed counselor, a nurse, a librarian, a pastor, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a person who has used our groups. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A hospital community health director, a clinic manager and a county health staff member give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $52,000 a year; program Director, paid $56,000 a year; community Wellness Coach (part-time stipend), paid $5,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 120 adults at 3 community sites.
- Run a weekly mindfulness and stress reduction group at each site, all year.
- Have at least 75 percent of participants attend six or more sessions.
- Have at least 70 percent of participants report in a simple survey that they use a coping skill they learned.
- Refer every participant who asks for more help to a licensed provider within one week.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions held and attendance, from our records.
- Skills used and stress levels, from a short, voluntary, confidential survey at the start and the end.
- Referrals made to licensed providers, from our referral log.
- Participant feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 160 participants and a fourth weekly group.
- Year 3: About 200 participants at 4 sites and a trained peer facilitator program.
- Year 4: About 240 participants at 5 sites and a partnership with a primary care clinic.
- Year 5: About 280 participants at 6 sites and the Program Director full time.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 32 percent of our budget, down from about 53 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $55,000 from the Great Lakes Community Health Foundation for the Program Director, coach stipends, curriculum materials and participant stipends, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Program Director salary, 50 percent of a full-time position, $28,000.
- Personnel: Community wellness coach stipends for three coaches, $15,000.
- Supplies: Curriculum materials and participant workbooks, $6,000.
- Other: Participant transportation and childcare stipends, $6,000 (other funds add $2,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 72% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $144,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $7,300 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $76,500; state Mental Health Prevention Funding $38,000; hospital Community Benefit Funding $22,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $52,000; program Director $56,000; community Wellness Coach (part-time stipend) $5,000; curriculum Materials and Workbooks about $6,000; participant Transportation and Childcare Stipends about $8,000; clinical Supervision and Training about $9,000; site Costs about $6,000; outreach and Printing about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $9,000; about $2,700 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $14,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and a projector for group sessions; $2,000 for chairs, cushions and quiet-room supplies for three sites; $1,000 for tablet for sign-in and surveys; $2,500 for attorney review of the consent form, confidentiality policy and crisis plan; $1,500 for banners, bilingual flyers and a simple website; $1,500 for background checks and clinical supervisor orientation; $2,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($14,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $34,000, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $48,000. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $44,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a hospital partner, $50,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $144,500 in Year 1 to about $194,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $76,500, $69,000, $66,000, $58,500 and $62,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: state Mental Health Prevention Funding from $38,000 to $62,000; hospital Community Benefit Funding from $22,000 to $46,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $7,300 in Year 1, about $8,100 in Year 2, about $8,200 in Year 3, about $8,700 in Year 4 and about $9,600 in Year 5. We grow from 3 community sites to 6 by Year 5, with the Program Director full time by Year 5.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $46,700, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $5,780 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per participant. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,156 per participant served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more participant served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $659 per participant.

After the grant. State prevention funding, hospital community benefit funding and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants share their stories with permission, and local businesses can sponsor a site or a group by name. We will look for partnerships with health systems and employers that want to support wellness in the community.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- A participant in crisis. A written crisis plan, coaches trained to call 988 or 911, a licensed clinical supervisor on call and clear referral steps.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share curricula and notes.
- Low attendance. We offer childcare and transportation stipends and adjust times and sites.
- A confidentiality problem. A written policy, secure systems and training for every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of participants and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $76,500 in Year 1, growing to $62,000 in Year 5.
- State Mental Health Prevention Funding: $38,000 in Year 1, growing to $62,000 in Year 5.
- Hospital Community Benefit Funding: $22,000 in Year 1, growing to $46,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $8,000 in Year 1, growing to $24,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $52,000; program Director $56,000; community Wellness Coach (part-time stipend) $5,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: curriculum Materials and Workbooks $6,000; participant Transportation and Childcare Stipends $8,000; clinical Supervision and Training $9,000; site Costs $6,000; outreach and Printing $3,000; administration and Insurance $9,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $6,000 at the start, then $1,500 to $2,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $14,000, paid once from $50,000 in startup money.
- Adults served: about 120 in Year 1, growing to about 280 in Year 5. Sites: 3 in Year 1, growing to 6 by Year 5. Each weekly group meets for about ninety minutes.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs