Grant program builds on recent evaluation findings
BOSTON (Sept. 9, 2026) – RIZE Massachusetts Foundation (RIZE), a nonprofit foundation solely dedicated to creating and funding solutions to end the opioid overdose crisis in Massachusetts, today announced $620,000 in grant funding for five nonprofit, community-based organizations to scale substance use disorder care models that improve continuity of care and reduce overdose risk.
The one-year grant program, Linkages to Care (LinC): Scaling Effective Models, runs from July 2026 through June 2027 and builds on RIZE’s original LinC grant program.
A RIZE-funded 2024 research study found that individuals who survive an overdose face a heightened risk of future overdose and that linking them to ongoing services following a hospital discharge is likely to save lives. In response, RIZE awarded nearly $2 million that year through its first LinC grant program. The funding supported community-based treatment, harm reduction, and recovery programs to strengthen connections to substance use services for individuals during hospital visits and after discharge to the community.
In this next phase, LinC: Scaling Effective Models grantees, which are located across Eastern and Central Massachusetts, will refine, document, and disseminate best practices for broader use. RIZE’s decision to extend the initiative was based on an evaluation of the original LinC grant program. Preliminary findings indicate that the program increased both the frequency and depth of collaboration between hospitals and community-based organizations, helping more people with substance use disorder connect to, and remain engaged in, community-based care after discharge.
“The LinC evaluation shows that stronger partnerships between healthcare facilities and community-based organizations are an essential tool in keeping people experiencing substance use disorder alive and improving their long-term health outcomes,” said Julie Burns, president and CEO of RIZE. “This next phase allows us to build on what we have learned so that we can scale and replicate what works.”
RIZE awarded the following grants:
- $135,000 to AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, in partnership with Cape Cod Hospital, Duffy Health Center, and Gosnold.
- $135,000 to Community Health Connections, Fitchburg, in partnership with UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital.
- $135,000 to North Shore Community Health, Salem, in partnership with Mass General Brigham Salem Hospital.
- $75,000 to Riverbend, Lowell, in partnership with Lowell General Hospital.
- $135,000 to The Pettengill House, Inc., Amesbury, in partnership with Beth Israel Lahey Health Anna Jaques Hospital.
Throughout the grant year, RIZE will engage the Institute for Community Health to work directly with each grantee to document and strengthen its approach, and to develop a plan to share the model broadly. This will expand the potential impact of effective linkage-to-care models across the care continuum.