L.A. Care Announces 2022 Equity & Resilience Initiative Awardees
LOS ANGELES – Race Counts, a research organization that tracks racial disparities across California, has found that health, socioeconomic and education disparities faced by low-income communities of color are the product of decades of systemic racism within public and private institutions. L.A. Care Health Plan launched its Equity and Resilience Initiative in 2020 to provide grants to community-based organizations led by individuals who are Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) that are working to mitigate the impact of historic maltreatment and marginalization of low-income communities of color.
Five organizations are receiving $150,000 each in this third round of Equity and Resilience Initiative (ER III) grants.
“This initiative seeks to bring financial and operational parity to minority-led nonprofits that face revenue gaps due to chronic philanthropic under-investment, just like the overall under-investment in the communities they serve,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “These organizations serve many of our members and help us to reduce social inequities and that will lead to better health outcomes.”
Each awardee is receiving $150,000 to support staffing, equipment and infrastructure needs. They will also receive 36 hours of capacity building coaching, leadership training, and technical assistance from a culturally competent consulting firm, which has expertise in nonprofit organization assessment and management.
Fathers and Mothers Who Care, Inc. (FMWC) is one of the 2022 awardees.
“Being selected by L.A. Care for this Equity & Resilience III Initiative has meant so much for our organization,” said Linda Kelly, Executive Director of FMWC, Inc. “This added funding has allowed us to have a greater impact for the people we serve in South Los Angeles.”
The ER III grants will support projects that:
- Provide hands-on STEM-based programs for primarily Latinx female students in grades 5-12
- Provide leadership development and advocacy training for parent health ambassadors
- Provide housing navigation services and career training
- Provide systems change training for parents to launch campaigns on social determinants of health
- Educate, empower and promote mental health and wellbeing among the South Asian immigrant community
The five Equity & Resilience Initiative III awardees are:
- Alliance for a Better Community, Bell, Bell Gardens, South Gate, Cudahy, Lynwood, Maywood
- DIY Girls, Van Nuys, Pacoima, North Hills, Arleta
- Fathers and Mothers Who Care, South Los Angeles, Athens, Compton, Crenshaw, Florence, Hyde Park, Watts, Lynwood, Paramount
- Gente Organizada, Pomona, Claremont, La Verne, San Dimas
- Saahas for Cause, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Lakewood, Norwalk
The Equity and Resilience Initiative III projects will run for 24 months.