An ACHF partnership with the American Society for Emergency Contraception

Health and wellness vending machines are an emerging best practice to meet students’ basic needs, including harm reduction and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. While hundreds of wellness vending machines exist on U.S. campuses, they are not equitably distributed across geographic regions or institutional type.

The American College Health Foundation (ACHF), in partnership with the American Society for Emergency Contraception (ASEC) and with funding provided by a private donor, created the Community College Vending Machine (CCVM) Grant Program to help community colleges and their partners implement wellness vending machines that expand student access to affordable products, including emergency contraception, Opill, condoms, and other health essentials.

2026-27 Grant Recipients

ACHF and ASEC are pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the Community College Vending Machine Grant Program. Twelve campuses and organizations were selected to receive funding and technical assistance to develop and implement wellness vending machine programs serving community college students:

City College at Montana State University Billings
Cuesta College
Kaua’i Community College
Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom
Mohave College
Pasadena City College
Period Y’all
Pottawattamie County Public Health
Salish Kootenai College
San Joaquin Delta Community College
Texas Equal Access
University of Alaska Fairbanks Community and Technical College

Throughout the grant period, recipients will engage students, implement their vending machine programs, evaluate their efforts, and share lessons learned to help identify successful and sustainable approaches that can be replicated by other community colleges and their partners.

Future Funding Opportunities

A second round of Vending Machine Grants is planned for 2027. Additional information about the next funding opportunity will be available soon.

For questions, please contact Claudia Trevor-Wright at claudia@americansocietyforec.org.

Project Outputs

ACHF and ASEC are partnering to develop a best-practices knowledge base for health vending machine programs on campuses without traditional health services. The resource will serve as a model for similar institutions, with a summative report anticipated in fall 2027.

Related Links

Topic

Patient Care & Services, Sexual & Reproductive Health