June 2022 grant announcement: Nearly $10 million to end domestic violence and achieve health equity

Blue Shield of California Foundation is investing nearly $10 million in more than 30 organizations that can help advance health equity and end domestic violence in California. The Foundation’s Board of Trustees approved this latest slate of grants on June 16, 2022.

“We are so excited and fortunate to partner with diverse organizations across California in our work,” said Foundation President and CEO Debbie I. Chang, MPH. “Each of these 32 grants represents a pathway toward ending domestic violence and achieving health equity for communities of color with low incomes.”

Strengthen economic security and mobility: $900,000

Income and wealth are powerful long-term contributors to health and well-being, and this is especially true for Californians most affected by racial and gender inequities.

A new grantee partnership for the Foundation, with Economic Security Project, is a good example of the urgency of getting more time and money into the hands of Californians with low incomes — and of our efforts to test, then scale up, solutions that succeed.

Through pilot programs in three California counties, Economic Security Project aims to dramatically simplify access to safety net benefits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Foundation is supporting the development and launch of these pilots with $200,000 over two years.

“The pandemic laid bare the tremendous problems with our social safety net at a time of great need for millions of Americans,” said Teri Olle, the California campaign director for Economic Security Project. “If this is successful, Californians’ experience accessing benefits will be transformed over time, leading to greater trust in the benefits system, and ultimately greater access. This, in turn, will translate into more economically secure families.”

Other grants designed to strengthen economic security and mobility include $500,000 to California Work & Family Coalition, a two-year renewal of its outreach and education about paid leave policies; and $200,000 to Berkeley Media Studies Group, another renewal that will build on work to bring the unique needs of domestic violence survivors into the state’s housing and homelessness conversation.

Break the cycle of domestic violence: $3.45 million

Several of these latest grants represent the Foundation’s strategy to prevent the transfer of domestic violence across generations of California families, as well as our commitment to testing different approaches and scaling up those that show promise.

For example, the Foundation is granting $500,000 over three years to Parenting for Liberation, to grow its programming and advocate for two-generation domestic violence prevention policies.

“We believe that violence that begins in the home is a learned behavior passed from generation to generation,” explained Trina Greene Brown, founding executive director of Parenting for Liberation. “Our work aims to address the root causes of violence across the life course of the Black community — including historical and structural trauma — and engages Black parents as active interrupters of intergenerational cycles of abuse. If violence can be learned, it can also be unlearned and replaced with a new way of being, rooted in liberation, equity, and healing.”

A three-year, $800,000 grant to Alliance for Girls will fund programming including the expansion, to Los Angeles, of partnerships in Bay Area counties that engage youth of color in advocating for gender equity. The Foundation also is investing in the development of domestic violence prevention policies, with a three-year, $900,000 grant to Futures Without Violence.

Align systems with community priorities: $3 million

The Foundation supports public health systems in responding to the needs of California communities most affected by health inequities and domestic violence — and to help those communities make their needs known.

To that end, a two-year, $425,000 grant to Urban Habitat will help train community leaders of color to serve on decision-making bodies in the public sector. Another grantee, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, will use $300,000 over two years to help local health departments take action on racism as a public health issue.

Grantee partner ChangeLab Solutions will deploy $350,000 over two years on training, technical assistance, and research meant to bring together government staff and community organizations.

“ChangeLab Solutions is excited to uplift and operationalize the findings from our recent report on how community-based organizations filled the gaps in social services during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says CEO Sarah de Guia. “These organizations are a vital part of the public health infrastructure and there is tremendous potential for public health departments and communities to work more closely together.”

General operating support of our partners and other grants: $2.38 million

With a $575,000 grant to Women’s Foundation California, the Foundation is funding 25 smaller organizations that, in turn, support survivors of domestic violence.

The Foundation also is fortunate to have longstanding partnerships with organizations like Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties and Hispanics in Philanthropy that share many of our philanthropic goals. In extending our support for their operations, we express solidarity with their missions and confidence about achieving them.

“We know we can't end domestic violence and achieve health equity without working with exceptional partners across the state,” Chang said. “These grantees can scale up proven solutions that reach thousands of Californians, giving us hope.”

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For a complete list of current grants and more information on all of the Foundation’s grantmaking, please see our grants database. We also support grantees on social media (find us on LinkedInTwitter, and Instagram), and feature their work in our newsletter, Intersections.

Blue Shield of California Foundation supports lasting and equitable solutions to make California the healthiest state and end domestic violence. When we work together to remove the barriers to health and well-being, especially for Californians most affected, we can create a more just and equitable future.

Benefits Access and Equity (BAE) Design Labs
To conduct 7 cross-collaborative convenings with 100 stakeholders to address gaps in safety net benefit programs in California, and to inform the design of 3 pilot programs to address these gaps.
Advancing paid family leave in California
To support advocacy, outreach, and education activities that expand eligibility for and support implementation and take-up of paid family leave policies in California.
Developing narrative for domestic violence survivors experiencing homelessness
To support the development of effective communications about domestic violence survivors experiencing homelessness and work with both advocates in the domestic violence and housing and homelessness sectors to create a shared narrative so that advocates can shape the narrative in the media about domestic violence survivors experiencing homelessness and better reach stakeholders involved in housing.
General operating support
To support statewide and local policy change, program expansion to Los Angeles, youth participatory research, and collaborative partnerships in service of long-term safety and resilience of girls and gender-expansive youth to reduce gender-based violence in families and communities.
Expanding evidence-based home visiting programs in California
To improve and expand voluntary evidence-based home visiting programs in California through advocacy, network building, and communication strategies to address risk factors for domestic violence.
Advancing state and federal domestic violence prevention policy
To support the development and implementation of a state and federal domestic violence prevention policy agenda by strengthening partnerships, building advocacy capacity, and expanding communications.
Leadership council for domestic violence and health care of Los Angeles
To support the Leadership Council for Domestic Violence and Health Care of Los Angeles in advancing system change to improve prevention services for domestic violence survivors in Los Angeles County through cross-sector collaboration.
Ending intergenerational cycles of violence and supporting healing for Black families
To support an innovative and culturally-responsive Black parenting program to prevent intergenerational intimate partner violence and trauma by supporting the healthy development of Black families through healing, learning, and connection.
Addressing domestic violence in the child welfare system
To develop new data, test new practices, and design policy solutions to improve child welfare system's response for families experiencing domestic violence.
Strengthening community voice in California voting and redistricting processes
To use research and policy advocacy to assess and improve the effectiveness of state laws and policies intended to increase the participation of communities of color in voting and in local and state redistricting processes./div>
Community-generated action steps to address racism as a public health crisis
To develop a “roadmap” for local governments to address racism as a public health crisis and a state-level policy agenda to enhance the ability of public sector health leaders to meaningfully share power with local communities.
Strengthening local and state health departments to promote health equity
To build local and state health departments’ capacity to advance policy, practices, and systems changes that build community trust, improve community engagement processes, and share power to increase health equity.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to PICO California, one of California's leading grassroots organizing organizations dedicated to power building and systems transformation among low-income communities of color through a faith and racial justice lens.
Launching the California Alliance of Schools and Programs of Public Health
To promote coordinated, collaborative efforts among 30-plus schools and programs of public health to (a) make public health training more fully centered on health equity and (b) amplify participating institutions’ research expertise to inform state health policy.
Lessons Learned: Strategies to increase hospital support for multisector collaboration
To create data strategies and community health worker strategies that will increase hospital investments in social determinants of health and community-driven approaches.
Othering and Belonging Institute
To produce research and narrative change strategies that promote belonging in service of strengthening trust in government and building the collective power of Black, Indigenous, People of Color leaders and organizations in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
Promoting equity in economic development in Riverside and San Bernardino counties
To support greater collaboration between local government leaders and community-based organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties to promote more equitable economic development and infrastructure investment.
Community Voice in Public Boards and Commissions
To support Urban Habitat’s Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute, which trains and places community leaders to serve on public sector decision-making bodies.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to Project HOPE, which produces Health Affairs, an influential digital and print platform that elevates health issues, including the social determinants of health, and supports the broad distribution of health research, practice, and information.
General operating support
To provide general operating support for Catalyst of San Diego and Imperial Counties to achieve an equitable, collaborative, and impactful social change ecosystem that improves the lives of all residents in the San Diego and Imperial county regions.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to Center for Effective Philanthropy to provide data, feedback, programs, and insights to help funders improve their effectiveness and achieve their intended impact.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to East Bay Community Foundation, to eliminate structural barriers, advance racial equity, and transform political, social, and economic outcomes for all who call the East Bay home.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees for advancing immigrant justice and belonging, galvanizing philanthropic partners.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to Grantmakers for Effective Organizations to support their efforts to transform philanthropic culture and practice by connecting funders to the resources and relationships needed to support thriving nonprofits and communities.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to Grantmakers in Health to support their efforts to foster communication and collaboration among grantmakers and others, and to help strengthen the grantmaking community’s knowledge, skills, and effectiveness.
General operating support for CHANGE Philanthropy
To provide general operating support to CHANGE Philanthropy, a coalition of philanthropic networks, to build the capacity of philanthropic funders by building knowledge, fostering diversity, and creating connections.
General operating support for Bay Engaged
To provide general operating support to Bay Engaged, a network of Latinx professionals in philanthropy of the greater San Francisco Bay Area to build collective capacity to influence how philanthropy engages and advocates for Latinx communities.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to the National Academy of Sciences to bring together multiple sectors and disciplines to broaden the national conversation about the factors that shape our health and to inform and support cross-sector relationships and engagement to transform the conditions for health across U.S. communities.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy on their work to move the field of philanthropy to be more accountable, open, and responsive to the needs of communities with the least wealth, power, and opportunity as well as the nonprofits that serve them.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to Northern California Grantmakers, a regional association that brings together foundations and other key stakeholders to tackle the region’s most pressing social issues, pool resources, share information, and learn from each other, with the intent to build healthy, thriving, and just communities together.
General operating support
To provide general operating support to Southern California Grantmakers, a regional association that connects grantmakers across Southern California and provides space for collaboration and coordinated action with communities and across sectors to ultimately create a more equitable and thriving society.
Supporting domestic violence organizations and networks to advance prevention through systems change
To provide unrestricted funding to the Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network and the Housing Opportunities Means Everything Cohort to advance systems change and address root causes of domestic violence.

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