New Jersey Health Initiatives, a statewide grant-making program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, announced that it will be one of five funders advancing meaningful change in New Jersey communities through the BUILD Health Challenge.

BUILD stands for: bold, upstream, integrated, local, data-driven partnerships. These partnerships seek to learn from others to better understand the factors that contribute to meaningful health improvement.

The BUILD Health Challenge will support three New Jersey awards of up to $250,000 over a two-year period. Nearly 70 percent of health outcomes in the United States can be attributed to the interplay and influence of social, physical and economic environments on health behaviors. BUILD awardees will work to improve communities that are adversely affected by these factors, which are often referred to as the social determinants of health.

The application portal opens Jan. 10, 2017, and the application deadline is Feb. 21, 2017, at 5 p.m. Informational webinars for prospective applicants will be held Dec. 12 at 3 p.m., Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. and Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. Registration is required and can be found on the BUILD HEALTHC Challenge website, as well as additional information on applying for the grants.