The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically upended all aspects of our lives and is on pace to continue doing so. As a community-informed and engaged foundation, Healthy Communities Foundation has been focused on listening to, learning from, and collaborating with grantee, funder, and public health partners across our region. It is important for us to hear directly from our partners and work collaboratively across sectors to carry out a multi-pronged response plan that helps address immediate health and wellness needs in our region.
As led by our values, we commit to maintaining transparency in our approach to funding and collaborations during this time. Visit this page frequently as we will be updating resources and information regarding our response plan.
Here is a list of our response activities to date:
We recognize the power of funder collaboratives in maximizing impact in our region. As a result, we are a part of several funder collaboratives, both in terms of funding and information gathering.
During this time of deep uncertainty, we reaffirm the importance of our partnerships. We are inspired by our grantee partners’ commitment to keeping communities strong and healthy. That commitment strengthens our resolve to help them meet their mission and ours—to address urgent and emerging health needs, especially for those who face stark disparities.
Guided by our values and mission-focused on health equity, access, and quality, the HCF COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund provided emergency funding to organizations in our region that are directly addressing critical health needs during this crisis.
The HCF COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund had one funding cycle focused on two overarching priorities: Surge Capacity Grants and Recovery Grants. Priority consideration was given to nonprofit organizations that currently receive general operating support through our foundation and who are addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in the following ways: Health service safety nets; mental health services; critical social determinants of health.
Visit the HCF COVID-19 Rapid Response webpage for the list of grant recipients.
As has been our grantmaking approach these past two years, we remain committed to providing the majority of our funding towards general operating support. We firmly believe in strengthening our partners from within so their energy and focus can be on serving and protecting our communities during this pandemic and beyond.
Visit our 2020 Grant Cycle webpage for an important update from our President, Maria Pesqueira.