June 2020 Grant Announcement: Foundation dedicates $5.4 million to reinforce the resilience of Californians facing adversity
Grants aim to prevent domestic violence, enable economic mobility, and support Black communities
Blue Shield of California Foundation announced today that it will invest nearly $5.4 million in grants to expand the resources available to California organizations, communities, and families facing threats to their ability to thrive, be safe, and be healthy.
This quarter’s funding includes eight community resilience grants to Black-led organizations working to support people of color as well as prevent violence and poor health in the Black community. These grants offer flexible financial assistance that allows organizations to meet the needs that they feel are most critical for their communities at this time while building upon their assets to nourish and restore resilience.
Additional grants include funding for economic stability and mobility as key levers of health and protection against domestic violence. Grants are aimed at extending benefits that will help workers and families who are struggling most. These funds are focused on expanding what works — paid family leave and tax credits are already proven to improve health — but also support innovative practices that are needed now, given the number of Californians who are currently economically insecure.
“There is an urgent demand for new and creative ideas to help survivors of domestic violence as well as to address one of the root causes of poor health and violence: economic hardship. In both of these areas, we are looking at immediate and long-term needs,” said Debbie I. Chang, MPH, president and CEO of the Foundation. “Within an environment that is ever-changing and charged, we are seeking solutions that not only meet people where they are today, but also lead us toward broader goals of systems transformation and community empowerment. Philanthropy has and will continue to step up and contribute to making California a better and more equitable place for all people.”
As a result of COVID-19, domestic violence has become even more lethal under shelter-in-place mandates and survivors continue to need a way out and way forward. Advocates across the field are responding with creativity and resourcefulness to ensure that those who need help still have access to it. To this end, this quarter’s funding includes grants to organizations working with survivors and families experiencing violence, uncovering their unique needs, and supporting them through this unprecedented moment. Additional statewide and regional grants have the potential to spread and scale proven innovative strategies to other areas, including sustainable housing and evidence-based home visiting for survivors and families.
To view details on the full list of grants, see below:
To understand and assess the impact of COVID-19 on girls’ risk and protective factors for child abuse and exposure to violence and create a rapid response network to support the safety and resilience for girls of color.
To create a statewide learning and practice innovation hub for California's home visiting programs to enable knowledge sharing on how home visiting can optimally support resilient families and prevent domestic violence.
To support the efforts of the Downtown Women's Center and the Domestic Violence and Homeless Services Coalition to build a client-centered system that increases access to safe housing and supportive services for survivors of domestic violence and their families.
To launch survivor-led, peer financial support groups in California to enable survivors to build financial security and create community that supports safety and healing for themselves and their children.
To generate new research, insights, practice, and policy solutions designed to inform systems change in Los Angeles County that reduces the number of children entering foster care due to exposure to domestic violence.
To use a community-based promotoras model to provide virtual education and resources on domestic violence prevention to immigrant families in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To support Hand in Hand to educate and mobilize employers of domestic workers to implement fair employment practices and advocate for policy changes that increase economic security and mobility of domestic workers to improve their health and prevent domestic violence.
To facilitate a network of more than 500 nonprofit, philanthropic, public, and private sector leaders working together to advance public policies and private sector practices that build women’s long-term economic security as a strategy for improving health and ending domestic violence.
To engage workers and community members to expand access to paid sick leave and other policies locally, in the Bay Area, and statewide that can support healthy families and communities during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.
To provide general operating support for an immigrant rights organization that engages effectively in policy advocacy, strategic communications, organizing, and capacity building to strengthen the economic security and mobility of immigrant communities in California.
To provide general operating support for system change efforts to protect and advocate for immigrant survivors of domestic violence and asylum seekers through policy, legal, and technical assistance strategies.
To provide general operating support for system change efforts to protect and advocate for immigrant survivors of domestic violence and asylum seekers through policy, legal, and technical assistance strategies.
To provide general operating support for system change efforts to protect and advocate for immigrant survivors of domestic violence and asylum seekers through policy, legal, and technical assistance strategies.
To increase state and national coverage of California health and well-being issues, including: prevention, domestic violence, health inequities, community solutions, and the social determinants of health to increase awareness and knowledge of content areas and highlight California's progress.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To provide general operating support to community-based organizations that are strengthening community resilience among Black communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
To support research on the impact of California’s paid family leave program on workers and employers and share these research findings with business and community stakeholders across California and nationally, with the aim of improving economic security for workers and reducing domestic violence.
To provide general operating support for an organization providing critical research and analysis to inform public policies that improve the economic security and well-being of low and middle income Californians.
To support the creation of a policy playbook providing recommendations and best practices for addressing four social determinants of health jeopardized by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, with the aim of promoting policy responses that center equity in recovering the health of Californians and their communities.
To provide general operating support to a leading organization that is implementing groundbreaking programs, policies, and campaigns to empower individuals and organizations working to end domestic violence and violence against women and children in California and nationally.
To support the Hope and Heal Fund, which aims to prevent gun violence by promoting safe communities, advancing policies that protect survivors of domestic violence, and making investments to prevent domestic violence, community violence, and gun suicides.
To improve economic security for working families by supporting advocacy, policy, and communication efforts to expand eligibility for and take-up of tax credit programs that improve health and reduce domestic violence.
To support the continuation and expansion of the Diversity Among Philanthropic Professionals (DAPP) national survey, to support the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts happening in the philanthropy field-at-large.
To provide general operating support to the Center for Effective Philanthropy who works to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness — and, as a result, their intended impact.
To support the efforts of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations who provides opportunities for grantmakers to come together to share knowledge and inspire each other to act.
To provide general operating support for Grantmakers in Health, a national convener of health grantmakers who generates and disseminates information about health issues and grantmaking strategies by offering information through issue-focused forums, webinars, workshops, and convenings.
To provide general operating support for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy on their work to move the field of philanthropy to be more accountable, transparent and responsive to the needs of communities with the least wealth, opportunity, and power.
To provide general operating support to Northern California Grantmakers, who 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.
To provide general operating support for San Diego Grantmakers to achieve an equitable, collaborative, and impactful social change ecosystem that improves the lives of all residents in the San Diego region.
To support the coordination of the California Gender Justice Funders Network, a network of funders taking a bold approach to defining and advancing gender justice.
To provide general operating support for Southern California Grantmakers, a regional association who works to mobilize people and organizations in philanthropy to achieve their missions by fostering an inclusive community that learns and takes bold action to create an equitable and thriving society.
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