We're proud to announce more than $10.6 million in grants to partners across California focused on preventing domestic violence, supporting childcare workers and their families, and enabling multi-sector collaborations that drive health equity.
We’re seeking solutions that not only meet people where they are today, but also lead us toward a future in which California is a more equitable place for all people.
As California grows, and the needs of those in our communities change, so does the opportunity to meet new challenges with integrity, partnership, equity, and a renewed sense of what is possible.
About Us
80% of health outcomes are not tied to health care. There are many factors that contribute to health—from access to affordable housing and good schools to ensuring personal and community safety. That’s why we’re focusing on the following three areas of work:
“The threat of homelessness is a significant reason for why [domestic violence] survivors stay in abusive relationships,” says an August 2020 Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) newsletter. Domestic violence prevention is a BSCF funding priority. In 2019 it “funded a statewide evaluation” of nineteen of the thirty-three groups (in California) that implemented the federally funded Domestic Violence Housing First program’s model, which “prioritizes housing stability as the first step toward empowering survivors and their families to regain control of their lives and begin healing.”
Thirteen major philanthropic foundations have pooled resources to launch Together Toward Health, which will connect with community based organizations to expand workforce development opportunities for Californians most impacted by COVID-19, and create and amplify public outreach efforts to reduce its spread.
The fast pace of current events, dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic, and uncertainty about the upcoming November 2020 election, and the high stakes for health, equity, and economic recovery are dominating our waking hours and keeping us up at night. The stress is real. And, the impact is not evenly distributed. The pandemic is exploiting and worsening existing inequities, by taking lives and livelihoods. It presents a challenge, a responsibility, and an opportunity.
This is a moment to seize the potential of focusing on child care workers as a linchpin for broader health and economic benefits.
Complex, uncertain and volatile. These words only begin to describe our world today. The pandemic flipped lives upside down, compromising the physical health of over six million people—disproportionately Black, Indigenous and People of Color—and the mental and emotional health of countless more. The urgent calls for racial justice require all of us reflect on our core values and identify ways we can help dismantle systemic racism.
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