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Better Health Foundation Melinda Gowey at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Better Health Foundation Melinda Gowey

The mission of the Better Health Foundation is to mobilize philanthropy to measurably improve community health for all the people of the 9-county greater Quad Cities region.

$1.9M
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$255k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$5.0MHuman Services$1.0MFood & Nutrition$352kEducation$314kYouth Development$296kCivil Rights$225kCommunity Improvement$140kCrime & Legal$86kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $228k
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $1.4M
  • $250k+1 grant · $255k
$75,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$50M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MERCYONE GENESIS FOUNDATION$255,000
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR COMMUNITY$225,000
COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE INC$200,000
PALOMARES SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTER$195,000
REDISCOVER RECOVERY COMMUNITY CENTE$157,616
STEAM ON WHEELS$140,000
YWCA OF CLINTON$75,000
TRANSITIONS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES$75,000
YOUTH SERVICES BUREAU OF ROCK ISLAN$75,000
EVERYCHILD$75,000
SAL COMMUNITY SERVICES$75,000
THE ARC OF THE QUAD CITIES$65,000
ONE EIGHTY$55,825
TAPESTRY FARMS$45,000
ARCHWAY OF THE QUAD CITIES$35,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY21–25, $1.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%PROJECT RENEWAL OF DAVENPORT: $150k → 12%HEART OF HOPE MINISTRIES: $217k → 15%PALOMARES SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTER: $195k → 15%YWCA OF CLINTON: $200k → 13%YWCA OF CLINTON: $75k → 13%Heart of Hope Ministries: $5k → 15%YOUTH SERVICES BUREAU OF ROCK ISLAN: $75k → 15%YOUTH SERVICES BUREAU OF ROCK ISLAN: $71k → 15%QUAD CITIES OPEN NETWORK INC: $25k → 15%TAPESTRY FARMS: $58k → 12%TAPESTRY FARMS: $45k → 12%THE CENTER: $33k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

73%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.4M · 20 repeat orgs$2.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
14

Total granted

$5.4M
$755k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+3%

Still filing today

95%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 34% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.2M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesEducationCrime & LegalYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • GH
    GENESIS HEALTH SYSTEM
    7× · 2017–2023 · $1.5M · revenue +39%
  • VF
    Vera French Community Mental Health Center Inc
    5× · 2017–2023 · $872k · revenue +75%
  • CH
    Community Health Care Inc
    2× · 2024–2025 · $400k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • VF
    Vera French Foundation
    one grant, 2024 · $198k · revenue +3% · 26% of their budget
  • PR
    PROJECT RENEWAL OF DAVENPORT
    one grant, 2024 · $150k · revenue -6%
  • GC
    GILDA'S CLUB
    one grant, 2024 · $75k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Jefferson Community Counseling Cent Dba Discovery Behavioral Healthcare

Discovery behavioral healthcare is a community based health treatment center dedicated to providing state of the art services to foster recovery and resilience in an accessible, respective and caring environment.

Youth Development
2
Covenant Medical Center Inc

We, covenant medical center and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities. covenant medical center is a member of trinity health.

Health
3
Trinity Medical Center

The mission of trinity medical center is to improve the health of the people and communities we serve.

Health
4
Greater Sioux Community Health Center Inc

The mission of promise community health center is to provide accessible, holistic health care that adapts to the needs of the community to improve the wellbeing of all persons.

Health
5
North Central Iowa Mental Health Center Incorporated

To improve the behavioral health of citizens in the region by providing a comprehensive community behavioral health program in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

—
6
Grinnell Regional Medical Center

Grinnell regional medical center's mission is dedication to health care for life through genuine care and compassion for the health and well-being of patients, families and the communities grinnell regional medical center is privileged to…

Health
7
Mercy Hospital of Franciscan Sisters Inc

We, mercy hospital of franciscan sisters and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communities. mercy hospital of franciscan sisters is a member of…

Health
8
The Robert Young Center for Community Mental Health

The mission of the robert young center for community mental health is to provide comprehensive mental health and substance abuse services to persons living in the quad cities and surrounding region based on needs, not means. by serving…

Health
9
Community Health Centers of Southeastern Iowa Inc

To provide primary health care to residents of the greater se iowa region, especially those individuals/families with limited resources or with other barriers to health care. see schedule o for additional information.

Health
10
Mercy Medical Center - Centerville

We, mercy medical center - centerville and trinity health, serve together in the spirit of the gospel as a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our communitites. mercy medical center - centerville is a member of trinity…

Health
11
Trinity Regional Medical Center

To improve the health of the citizens of our communities and regions by providing quality healthcare in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

Health
12
Central Iowa Hospital Corporation

Improving the health of the community through healing, caring and teaching.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Transitions Nfp; the most unlike its peers is Iowa Black Doula Collective. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

37 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 37 of the 48 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/37
Grantees still filing
19/37
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GENESIS HEALTH SYSTEM: $1,491,376 · HealthGENESIS HEALTH SYSTEMVera French Community Mental Health Center Inc: $871,931 · HealthVera French Community Mental Health Center IncGENESIS HEALTH SERVICES FOUNDATION: $332,371 · HealthGENESIS HEALTH SERVICES FOUNDATIONMERCER FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH: $240,207 · HealthMERCER FOUNDATION FOR HEALTHTRANSITIONS NFP: $225,000 · HealthTRANSITIONS NFPLIFE CONNECTIONS PEER RECOVERY SERV: $175,000 · HealthREDISCOVER RECOVERY COMMUNITY CENTER: $157,616 · Health+6 more: $239,100 · Health+6 moreCommunity Health Care Inc: $400,000 · OtherCommunity Health Care IncFAMILY RESOURCES INC: $295,000 · OtherFAMILY RESOURCES INCMERCYONE GENESIS FOUNDATION: $255,000 · OtherMERCYONE GENESIS FOUNDATIONMARTIN LUTHER KING JR COMMUNITY: $225,000 · OtherMARTIN LUTHER KING JR COMMUNITYVera French Foundation: $197,862 · OtherVera French FoundationNAMI GREATER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: $110,000 · OtherBLACK HAWK COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $90,000 · OtherQUAD CITIES INTERFAITH: $86,454 · OtherGILDA'S CLUB: $75,000 · OtherSAL FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES: $75,000 · Other+12 more: $370,505 · Other+12 moreYWCA OF CLINTON IOWA: $275,000 · Human ServicesYWCA OF CLINTON I…Heart of Hope Ministries: $222,000 · Human ServicesHeart of Hope Min…Palomares Social Justice Center: $195,000 · Human ServicesPalomares Social …PROJECT RENEWAL OF DAVENPORT: $150,017 · Human ServicesPROJECT RENEWAL O…YOUTH SERVICE BUREAU OF ROCK ISLAND CO: $146,250 · Human ServicesYOUTH SERVICE BUR…TAPESTRY FARMS: $103,330 · Human ServicesTAPESTRY FARMS+2 more: $58,000 · Human ServicesSTEAM ON WHEELS: $140,000 · EducationAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $14,000 · EducationEVERYCHILD: $150,000 · Crime & LegalTHE 180 ZONE: $67,225 · Youth DevelopmentUNITED WAY QUAD CITIES: $50,000 · Philanthropy
Health$3,732,601Other$2,179,821Human Services$1,149,597Education$154,000Crime & Legal$150,000Youth Development$67,225Philanthropy$50,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetGENESIS HEALTH SYSTEM: $1,491,376 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetVera French Community Mental Health Center Inc: $871,931 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetCommunity Health Care Inc: $400,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGENESIS HEALTH SERVICES FOUNDATION: $332,371 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetFAMILY RESOURCES INC: $295,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetYWCA OF CLINTON IOWA: $275,000 over 2y, 7.9% of budgetMERCER FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH: $240,207 over 3y, 30% of budgetTRANSITIONS NFP: $225,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetHeart of Hope Ministries: $222,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetVera French Foundation: $197,862 over 1y, 26% of budgetPalomares Social Justice Center: $195,000 over 1y, 74% of budgetLIFE CONNECTIONS PEER RECOVERY SERV: $175,000 over 3y, 29% of budgetREDISCOVER RECOVERY COMMUNITY CENTER: $157,616 over 1y, 12% of budgetPROJECT RENEWAL OF DAVENPORT: $150,017 over 1y, 13% of budgetEVERYCHILD: $150,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetYOUTH SERVICE BUREAU OF ROCK ISLAND CO: $146,250 over 2y, 12% of budgetNAMI GREATER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: $110,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetTAPESTRY FARMS: $103,330 over 2y, 8.7% of budgetBLACK HAWK COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 3y, 4.4% of budgetQUAD CITIES INTERFAITH: $86,454 over 2y, 26% of budgetSAL FAMILY AND COMMUNITY SERVICES: $75,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSCOTT COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetTHE 180 ZONE: $67,225 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetMIDWEST CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetGEISINGER CLINIC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROSSROADS HEALTH FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetUNITED WAY QUAD CITIES: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetIOWA BLACK DOULA COLLECTIVE: $40,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetEmpower House: $36,100 over 2y, 15% of budgetTHE CENTER: $33,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetTogether Making a Better Community: $25,000 over 1y, 9.0% of budgetQUAD CITIES OPEN NETWORK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetCHRISTIAN CARE: $18,500 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $14,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Quad Cities Community…Quad Cities Golf Clas…United Way Quad CitiesDoris & Victor Day Fo…The Rock Island Commu…Scott County Regional…Hubbell-Waterman FndnHarold R Bechtel Char…Rauch Family Foundati…Moline FoundationGrant & Virginia Bris…Marie H Bechtel Chari…
Quad Cities Community FoundationIA52.1× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Quad Cities Community Foundation · Quad Cities Golf Classic Charitable Foundation · United Way Quad Cities · Doris & Victor Day Foundation Inc · The Rock Island Community Foundation · Scott County Regional Authority · Hubbell-Waterman Fndn · Harold R Bechtel Charitable Trust · Rauch Family Foundation I Inc · Moline Foundation · Grant & Virginia Brissman Foundation Nfp · Marie H Bechtel Charitable Trust

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Better Health Foundation Melinda Gowey funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Better Health Foundation Melinda Gowey. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Better Health Foundation Melinda Gowey?

    Find your warmest path to Better Health Foundation Melinda Gowey through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 48 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Better Health Foundation Melinda Gowey’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home