To Our Grantee Partners
At the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, we aim to be both strategic and responsive. As the landscape continues to shift amid the COVID-19 pandemic, this requirement is even clearer. Our strength lies in our relationship with you, our grantee partners, so our focus is on providing support and flexibility as you respond to your communities.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
As grantee partners, you have the option to use grant funds to do the work originally proposed, or to adjust plans to best serve your community due to the pandemic. Your program officer can help you navigate options.
EMERGING NEEDS
In addition to our ongoing focus areas of Healthy Start, Healthy Connections and Access to Coverage, we are helping to address immediate community needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- More than $825,000 has been granted to community organizations through our COVID-19 rapid response fund, supporting work including:
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- Child care for health care workers, emergency workers and other priority populations
- Emergency food shelf and food delivery for vulnerable people
- Support for people experiencing economic insecurity
- Anti-xenophobia and anti-bias efforts related to COVID-19
- Homelessness or housing insecurity exacerbated by the crisis
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- $100,000 contributions to both the Headwaters Foundation for Justice’s Communities First Fund and the Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund
- $15,000 in funding to both the Minneapolis American Indian Center and NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center to support their emergency food shelf programs
- Adjusting our recent Healthy Start funding opportunity to address emerging needs in early childhood care and education related to COVID-19
- Offering financial assistance in addition to the core grant to current grantee partners to support sustainability
- Offering electronic transfer in addition to traditional grant payments by check, based on grantee partner preference, to quickly deliver funds in a safe, efficient way
ADDRESSING RACISM AND EXISTING HEALTH INEQUITIES
We’ve seen a significant rise in reported incidences of racist attacks toward Asian Americans during the pandemic. To help combat this, the Foundation made a $100,000 grant to the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) to support a campaign to address anti-Asian racism heightened by COVID-19 and affirm the belonging and safety of Asian Minnesotans.
Existing health inequities are being laid bare — and further exacerbated. A bright light has been shone on communities facing extra challenges to weather this crisis — things like basic health care, stable employment, and the resources to shelter in place. Communities of color and indigenous communities, people with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, domestic abuse victims and survivors, the LGBTQ+ community and others are deeply impacted by this pandemic. Organizations led by and serving these communities are the majority of our recent COVID-19 rapid response grantees.
The Foundation is committed to listening to and better understanding the impact of inequities and the changes necessary to advance equity now and into the future. We will use our grants, leadership, and influence as tools to ensure everyone has the opportunity to be healthy.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONNECTION
Connection to our communities and grantee partners continues to drive and inform the Foundation. When COVID-19 began to take hold in Minnesota, we reached out to all active grantee partners to understand the impact of this crisis. As this situation continues, we remain available to connect and provide support.
We are grateful for the strong and steady work being done by you, our grantee partners. Your leadership is critical to the health and wellbeing of our community, now more than ever. We are honored to partner with you as we move forward together.
Learn more about our response to COVID-19 here.
This resource list provides more information on other funding sources related to COVID-19 efforts.