LOS ANGLES – L.A. Care Health Plan announced that it is providing a total of $425,000 to three organizations to support the health care safety net, improve health disparities, and address systemic racism. As the largest publicly operated health plan in the country, L.A. Care is committed to advancing health equity, where everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible, regardless of factors like race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, geography, or disability.
“Health care is more than just a plastic card in your wallet,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “L.A. Care is committed to doing all we can to remove barriers that result in preventable health differences experienced by socially, economically, and environmentally disadvantaged people.”
The largest of the three grants announced today is a $200,000 grant awarded to the California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF), a five-year initiative to ensure sustained investments and resources needed to eradicate systemic and institutional racism. Through its network of more than 91 organizations and in partnership with the California Legislative Black Caucus, CBFF will engage historically disenfranchised Black populations across various Los Angeles County legislative districts through up to four policy listening sessions funded by L.A. Care’s grant, in an effort to heighten community members’ civic engagement.
"The California Black Freedom Fund is committed to ensuring that Black communities win decision-making power over the systems, policies and institutions that shape our lives in Los Angeles and around the state,” said Marc Philpart, CBFF Executive Director. “As a city and county, L.A. has one of the highest Black populations in the state. This grant will provide critical resources to the Black Freedom Fund as we continue our commitment to investing in the uplift and power of Black Angelenos to shape a better L.A. for all."
L.A. Care is also awarding $150,000 to STEM to the Future, an organization helping Black and Latino youth develop creativity, problem solving, and collaboration skills as they learn how the wide variety of STEAM pathways can lead them to the futures they want and deserve. The L.A. Care funding will support STEM to the Future’s Theory and Practice program and its Black Student Achievement Program (BSAP) through the Los Angeles Unified School District. The organization will engage 400 Black and Latinx youth to explore STEAM pathways that benefit them and their communities, co-create curriculum with support from STEAM-Residents, and host at least five youth-led community engagement events. During these events, youth will present their STEAM-based solutions to real world problems such as climate change, public safety, and poverty and obtain feedback from up to 300 community members on solutions that will help ensure healthier communities.
The third grant is a $75,000 award to the California Community Foundation (CCF). The Foundation funds long-term, systemic solutions addressing the root causes of the most pressing issues facing Los Angeles County. In partnership with the Corporation for Supportive Housing, CCF will coach 11 homeless housing service providers through a CalAIM advocacy program to help further incorporate each agency’s perspectives in the development of future waivers. L.A. Care’s funding will strengthen trusted community based organizations’ ability to impact federal and state funded programs intended to meet the needs of communities that these agencies are entrusted to represent and serve.
These projects align with L.A. Care’s commitment to provide access to health and social services for its members and their communities, and to support the safety net providers that serve those members. It also aligns with L.A. Care’s Board approved Statement of Principles on Social Justice and Systemic Racism.