SNF – Release Athens grants fulfill commitment to supporting mental health

As part of the close collaboration between the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and Release Athens that welcomed thousands of people to enjoy superstar concerts as part of SNF Nostos 2023, SNF announced in February 2023 that it would make €500,000 in new grants to nonprofit organizations that support mental health. The recipient organizations in Greece and the United States, which work to promote mental health—in many cases harnessing the power of music and the arts—have now been selected. 

These SNF – Release Athens grants, made as part of the Foundation’s Global Health Initiative (GHI), will support the following eight nonprofits:

1. El Sistema Greece, over one year, for its programming, which includes a music training program, a camp, a hip-hop school, and its 2023 Christmas concert.
2. Institute of Child Mental Health, Department of Mental Health & Social Welfare, over two years, for operations at the organization’s Day Center in Athens, as well as the provision of mental health and social support services to child victims of abuse and violence and the design and dissemination of educational material in the field of child protection.
3. Service Program for Older People (SPOP) for the vital health services it provides in New York at 11 Manhattan senior centers.
4. Seveneleven for an interactive music program designed to bolster the mental health of participants, ages 16 and over, to be held at the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, a museum in Athens.
5. Angels of Joy, over one year, for music therapy programs for children and newborns who are hospitalized at children’s hospitals in Attica, as well as their families.
6. Association for Regional Development and Mental Health (EPAPSY) for a music festival for young people to be held in cities around Greece, accompanied by a community music therapy program, as well as for the artist-guided creation of a music collection.
7. Syn-eirmos Social Solidarity NGO for a psychosocial care program at the BABEL Mental Health Unit for Immigrants & Refugees for people who have experienced torture and violence.
8. Merimna, over one year, for an empowerment program for children and parents grieving the loss of a loved one.

SNF’s ongoing Global Health Initiative (GHI), whose total budget exceeds $1 billion, is the largest single initiative the Foundation has undertaken. It includes, among other projects, the design, construction, and outfitting of three new hospitals in Komotini, Thessaloniki, and Sparta; the procurement of specialized medical equipment, such as new aircraft for the National Center for Emergency Care’s (EKAV) air ambulance services; continuing education programs for health professionals; the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Initiative (CAMHI) in Greece; and partnerships with leading international organizations to strengthen public health around the world, such as The Rockefeller University, Columbia University, and the Child Mind Institute in New York, the National Children’s Alliance across the US, Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital in Barcelona, the King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center in Jordan, and Yorkshire Cancer Research in the UK.