For Grantseekers

The Paso del Norte Health Foundation seeks Letters of Intent (LOIs) from eligible organizations to provide out-of-school time (OST) opportunities for disconnected youth in the Paso del Norte region.

Key terms:

• Disconnected youth: Young people between the ages of 5 and 17 who do not have a positive activity, a trusted adult, and a safe environment outside of school.

• Outdoor activities: Structured or youth-directed experiences, sports, recreation, or play that occur in open-air environments, including natural and built settings, and encourage movement, social interaction, and connection to nature to support healthy physical, social, and emotional development.

• Unstructured play or youth-directed activities: Activities emphasizing youth choice, autonomy, organization, and peer interaction with adults providing supervision and support rather than leading the experience.

• 6 Cs of Positive Youth Development (PYD): A framework describing the assets young people need to thrive. The 6 Cs are: confidence, competence, connection, caring, character, and contribution.

The Healthy Kids initiative aims to ensure that youth in the Paso del Norte region thrive physically, socially, and emotionally. In its 2026–2030 strategic plan, the initiative prioritizes disconnected youth by investing in out-of-school time (OST) programs that provide trusted adult relationships, positive activities, and safe environments. High-quality OST programs help youth build protective factors, reduce unhealthy behaviors, and support the six C’s of positive youth development.

Beginning in 2026, Healthy Kids expands its approach by supporting OST program designs that incorporate outdoor activities and youth-directed or unstructured play. At a time when young people are spending less time outdoors and more time in sedentary, screen-dominated settings, outdoor activities and youth-directed play offer practical ways to support healthy development.

The Health Foundation seeks LOIs for OST programs that serve youth between the ages of 5 and 17 years old and:

• focus on recruiting and retaining at least 100 disconnected youth in addition to those currently served;

• offer summer programming;

• include program design elements centered on strengthening the 6 Cs of Youth Development; and

• incorporate participant fees or an alternative participant investment model. Nominal fees or strategies that replace fees, such as community service, are acceptable. A sliding scale fee structure or scholarship options may be necessary to ensure equitable access. Implementing a fee structure is considered a best practice for out-of-school time programs.

In addition, programs must also take steps to include outdoor activities and expand opportunities for youth-directed activities or unstructured play when feasible. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• identifying outdoor activities and unstructured play models that align with the program’s current curriculum or goals and creating a plan to incorporate these activities;

• participating in staff training to facilitate outdoor activities and youth-directed or unstructured play;

• assessing barriers to outdoor and youth-directed or unstructured play and developing a plan to mitigate these barriers; or

• pilot testing new outdoor activities or youth-directed opportunities.

Programs that already offer outdoor and unstructured activities should mention these program elements in the LOI narrative.

The Foundation uses LOIs to welcome proposals from a diverse applicant pool. After review, the Foundation will invite selected applicants to submit a full proposal. Selected applicants will be asked to address specific comments or questions from the LOI review in their proposal.