March 2023 grant announcement: Foundation directs $3.4 million to end domestic violence and make California the healthiest state
Through 14 grants in the first quarter of 2023, Blue Shield of California Foundation is fueling organizations across the state with $3.4 million toward building the coalitions, networks, and systems changes that will make California the healthiest state and end domestic violence.
The Foundation’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the package of grants which reflect deep commitments to domestic violence prevention and health equity, and which build on the Foundation’s relationships with California community leaders and organizations accelerating progress in these areas.
“We are proud to be a catalyst for statewide impact by elevating some of California’s strongest community leaders — people who are collaborating on the policy and systems changes that promote health equity and prevent domestic violence,” said Debbie I. Chang, MPH, president and CEO of the Foundation.
Align systems with community priorities: $1.34 million
The Foundation invests in multisector collaboration, in which community organizations of many kinds come together to work on a shared goal. This quarter, $1.34 million is supporting these collaboratives across California; some of this funding will launch a toolkit that showcases best practices for forming and sustaining them.
“This grant opportunity will allow the Contra Costa Family Violence Prevention Coalition to coordinate and identify partners in many sectors such as health, education, and community-based organizations that have not traditionally worked in the domestic violence field to come to the same table and have a shared vision of violence prevention and how we can achieve it together,” said Oravanh Thammasen, program coordinator with the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department.
The coalition in Contra Costa County is one of several multisector collaboratives working together on domestic violence prevention in their communities. While they are dispersed around the state, these organizations have many equity and prevention priorities in common, and in the coming year they will be developing shared goals for policy advocacy at the state level.
Strengthen economic security and mobility: $1 million
A key priority for the Foundation in 2023 is supporting the implementation of a new state law (SB 914) that requires local homelessness prevention plans to include the unique needs of domestic violence survivors. An important group of local advocates who can ensure effective implementation of such policies is the Domestic Violence Housing Opportunities Mean Everything (DV HOME) cohort, which the Foundation is continuing to support through a grant to Women’s Foundation California ($650,000 over 24 months).
Another grant designed to strengthen economic security and mobility for Californians will go to the Abundant Birth Project ($200,000 over 12 months), a guaranteed income program for pregnant people. This project comes from Expecting Justice, a Black-led collaborative working to improve maternal and infant health in Black and Pacific Islander communities in San Francisco. The Foundation is supporting the expansion of this program to Los Angeles, Riverside, Contra Costa, and Alameda counties.
“Guaranteed income is critical to supporting the health, well-being and economic stability of its recipients,” said Dr. Zea Malawa, the director of Expecting Justice. “We believe the Abundant Birth Project would not only narrow the racial disparities in birth outcomes, but would also improve financial security during early childhood, make breastfeeding more feasible, decrease the risk of domestic violence, and create a sense of hope and well-being among recipients.”
Break the cycle of domestic violence: $625,000
The Foundation is proud to support the expansion of the Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network, which organizes culturally responsive service providers in California and advocates for policies, resources, and systems changes that meet the needs of domestic violence survivors of color. Through a grant to the Jenesse Center ($500,000 over 30 months), the Foundation is extending its support for the network, which will grow to include 25 organizations.
“The next phase of the Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network will include a multi-year effort to increase funding for violence prevention and culturally responsive and restorative justice approaches statewide,” said its policy adviser Ingrid Happoldt.
The Foundation also continues to explore the role of home visiting services in preventing domestic violence. A grant to the California Children and Families Foundation ($125,000 over 12 months) will support development of a policy proposal for a Medi-Cal benefit that could spread home-visiting programs to more families with young children in communities of color with low incomes.
“Californians of color with low incomes are the most affected by health inequities and domestic violence,” said Chang. “Serving this population, as we and our grantee partners do every day, is the way to have the greatest impact toward achieving our mission: to make California the healthiest state and end domestic violence.”
Supporting collaboration among journalists
The Foundation also is helping to launch a health equity reporting collaborative, bringing together community and ethnic media outlets from around the state, supporting them through a grant to the Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern California ($336,000 over 17 months). The participating journalists will collaborate on a health equity topic affecting their communities, in a pilot program that the Foundation is partnering with the California Health Care Foundation to fund and evaluate.
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 LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram), and feature their work in our newsletter, Intersections.
To support the Maven Collaborative to develop a strategic framework, research, partnerships, and a set of tools focused on narrative change that will be used by community-led groups, advocates and policymakers to advance equitable economic security policies focused on Black women and communities of color in California.
To replicate and expand the Abundant Birth Guaranteed Income Pilot into four new counties in California, advancing equity for low-income Black and Pacific Islander birthing people and their children.
To support the Housing Opportunities Means Everything (HOME) Cohort to build 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 domestic violence survivors.
To support policy research and analysis to develop a proposal for a home visiting benefit in Medi-Cal that would expand access to home visiting services for families of color with low incomes to prevent domestic violence and advance health equity.
To support the Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Network to advance policy and practice change to prevent domestic violence in communities of color in California.
To support California Hmong Advocates Network - Building Our Future (CHAN-BOF) in changing norms related to gender and violence within Hmong communities and public systems, and in partnering with Prevention Institute to build a new statewide network of domestic violence prevention collaboratives.
To support the Healing Roots Collaborative in building a network of faith communities and city agencies that support people impacted by trauma and domestic violence, and in developing the future direction of the collaborative through sustainability planning.
To support Contra Costa County’s Family Violence Prevention Coalition in advocating for a countywide policy platform to prevent domestic violence, and in partnering with the Prevention Institute to build a new statewide network of domestic violence prevention collaboratives.
To support multiple violence prevention collaboratives in pursuing systems change individually (locally) and collectively (statewide), and to lead the development of a new statewide network of domestic violence prevention collaboratives.
To support the Northern California Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Collaborative in building a network of organizations that support people impacted by trauma and domestic violence, and in developing the future direction of the collaborative through sustainability planning.
To continue the development and launch of the BEACON (Building Equity Assessment for Community Organizations and Networks) Toolkit, designed to assess and support equity in multisector collaboration.
To support San Ysidro Domestic Violence Prevention Collaborative in engaging the South San Diego public school system to prevent domestic violence, and in developing the future direction of the collaborative through sustainability planning.
To support the Healthy Black Families Collaborative in building the leadership of Sacramento’s Black community members to engage with city agencies around domestic violence prevention issues, and to partner with the Prevention Institute to build a new statewide network of domestic violence prevention collaboratives.
To support the Center for Health Journalism in forming a collaborative of ethnic media outlets that serve Californians of color with low incomes, and in training those outlets' journalists to report on health equity issues.
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