Foundation dedicates $4.3 million to making California the healthiest state and ending domestic violence
With a unanimous vote at their first meeting of 2025, trustees of Blue Shield of California Foundation approved $3.5 million in grants to support the Californians most affected by health inequities and domestic violence.
An additional $800,000 in rapid-response grants, to help with wildfire recovery and defend the health, safety, and economic security of California communities, brings the total grantmaking in the first quarter to $4.3 million.
“Our commitment to our mission, our values, and the communities we serve is unwavering,” said Debbie I. Chang, MPH, president and CEO of the Foundation. “At an uncertain time for many people in our state, this Foundation is staying the course to address root causes: gender inequity, economic insecurity, and racism. With our grantee partners, we are pushing the policy and systems changes that millions of Californians need to achieve health equity and end domestic violence.”
Strengthen economic security and mobility: total grants of $1.075 million
A $475,000 grant to Women’s Foundation California will support the Housing Opportunities Mean Everything (HOME) cohort, first launched in 2019 to help frontline domestic violence organizations advance systemic solutions at the intersection of domestic violence and homelessness. The new grant will allow the cohort to advance policy and narrative change, as well as research and knowledge sharing for the field.
“Women’s Foundation California is excited that the HOME cohort is continuing to advance much-needed housing solutions for survivors, even as California’s housing crisis worsens and federal funding for victims’ services continues to decline,” said Stephanie Davidson, development manager at Women’s Foundation California. “Over the past five-plus years of the HOME cohort’s work, the issues of gender-based violence and homelessness have become much more interconnected in California, with stronger awareness about the interplay and significantly improved collaboration between homelessness funders and domestic violence survivor support organizations.”
This grant is part of the Foundation’s work to strengthen economic security and mobility for Californians. Other strategic funding this quarter supports efforts in the home care and child care sectors to improve wages, benefits, and job quality.
Align systems with community priorities: total grants of $490,000
Another strategic approach of the Foundation is to help ensure that systems, such as public health, serve the needs of California communities most affected by health inequity and domestic violence. One example this quarter is a grant of $250,000 to aid the Department of Health Care Services in improving some of its community assessments. Another grant of $165,000 will support the TransLatin@ Coalition.
“This empowers The TransLatin@ Coalition to continue its comprehensive support of the two-spirit, trans, gender expansive and intersex (2TGI) community, to be able to provide vital services, organizing and advocacy to our community,” said Bamby Salcedo, president and CEO. “We are particularly grateful for our continued partnership during these challenging times, when our community faces constant political attacks and efforts to undermine our existence. The Foundation's support is essential for our resilience.”
Break the cycle of domestic violence: total grants of $1.4 million
As part of the Foundation’s strategic investments to break the multigenerational cycle of domestic violence, journalism reaching the public and policymakers can be a powerful tool. A grant to AfroLA, of $200,000 over three years, will support local journalism about domestic violence prevention in Black communities. AfroLA is known for its data-driven, solutions-oriented coverage of systemic issues.
Another grant this quarter will go toward updated training for county social services workers, who play a critical role in connecting survivors of domestic violence with the supports they and their families need.
Other grantmaking to advance our mission
Recovering from the displacement and destruction of the Palisades and Eaton fires in Southern California will take years and billions of dollars, with philanthropic organizations coming together to do their part for the communities most affected. The Foundation is contributing $100,000 across several funds, including California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund and Pasadena Community Foundation’s Eaton Fire Relief and Recovery Fund.
“In turbulent times, it is more important than ever to stay grounded in our values of equity and dignity, integrity, partnership, and possibility,” Chang said. “Through our deep relationships in communities across the state, we will continue to advance our shared goals of a healthier, more equitable California, free of domestic violence.”
For a complete list of current grants and more information on all the Foundation’s grantmaking, please see our grants database. We also support grantees on social media (find us on LinkedIn and Instagram), and feature their work in our newsletter, Intersections.
To support the development of a statewide scaling infrastructure that can help grow worker-owned home care businesses that improve wages and benefits, empower workers, and improve quality of care.
To engage and elevate the voices of childcare practitioners in advocating for policy and system changes that can lead to better wages, benefits, and job quality.
To support the Housing Opportunities Means Everything (HOME) Cohort to build the capacity of domestic violence organizations to advocate for sustainable housing policy and funding solutions at the state and local levels that will improve housing security for survivors of domestic violence.
To improve the way domestic violence is covered by funding local, solutions-based, and culturally responsive journalism focused on changing attitudes to advance multigenerational approaches to prevent domestic violence in Black communities in Los Angeles and throughout California.
To provide general operating support to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, a national leader in domestic violence policy advocacy that works in close partnership with domestic violence organizations from California and other states to achieve the goal of ending domestic violence.
To support University of California, Davis Human Services in creating an updated and comprehensive training curriculum on domestic abuse for county social services workers that will improve the ability of these workers to support survivors of domestic violence.
To enable the Population Health Learning Center to create a Community of Practice in which Medi-Cal managed care plan leaders will learn how to design and implement strategies to better address and prevent intimate partner violence in their enrollees.
To support planning and technical assistance for local public health agencies and Medi-Cal managed care plans to align their community assessment processes statewide.
To establish a Community Health Worker (CHW) Consortium that strengthens collaboration between community-based organizations and Los Angeles County health agencies to improve care for low-income communities of color.
To provide General Operating Support to Translatin@ Coalition, which advocates for the health, well-being, and safety of transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex (TGI) communities in California and nationally.
To support California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund that enables both mid-term to long-term recovery efforts for those affected by California wildfires.
To provide general operating support to California Immigrant Policy Center, California’s leading statewide immigrant justice policy organization, which convenes and mobilizes a broad and diverse array of advocates towards transforming systems to achieve racial, gender, and economic justice.
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