Healthy Americas Foundation Launches Hispanic Family Equity Fund With Support Of Centene Charitable Foundation

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May 27, 2021, 08:17 ET

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthy Americas Foundation (HAF), the supporting organization of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, today announced the launch of the Hispanic Family Equity Fund. The $100 million fund aims to advance equity in health and well-being for Hispanic families in communities nationwide. Centene Corporation through its foundation The Centene Charitable Foundation have pledged to match the first $1 million in corporate donations to the fund and issued a call to companies and foundations to contribute to the initiative and help play an active role in reducing inequities that challenge Hispanic communities.

The fund includes three components:

$20 million in immediate equity grants to leading community-based organizations to support community family services. The grants will be used to facilitate the hiring of community navigators who will help close the gap in utilization of early education, childcare, food security, health insurance, economic support, and job training.
$5 million to monitor national, state, and community policies to ensure Hispanic families recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
$75 million as a fund to support emerging opportunities and foster innovation in the delivery of services to close the well-being gap for Hispanic families.

The fund's launch comes at a time when less than 2 percent of philanthropic dollars are invested in Hispanic-serving organizations. Now, as Hispanic Americans face disproportionate negative health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need to address longstanding inequities.

"By investing directly in communities and bolstering resources at the local level, the Healthy Americas Foundation can best meet the needs of Hispanic families," said Jane L. Delgado, PhD, MS, President and CEO of the Healthy Americas Foundation. "We look forward to working with Centene to ensure more equitable outcomes in the health and well-being of Hispanic communities. With so much now at stake for Hispanics, inaction cannot and will not be an option."

"The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the health and economic inequities faced by Hispanic communities nationwide," said Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman, President and CEO of Centene Corporation. "As we now emerge into a post-pandemic world, we have been given a clear opportunity to close the well-being gap faced by far too many Americans. We encourage businesses and foundations to join Centene in supporting efforts to provide opportunities for Hispanic communities, our nation's largest minority group, while also looking for innovative ways to ensure equity within their own organizations."

The Hispanic Family Equity Fund will benefit from the expertise of the Healthy Americas Foundation staff, with decades of experience managing multi-site national health and human services programs. The Healthy Americas Foundation will be administering the funding to a variety of communities. These will include large Hispanic population centers as well as emerging population centers as well as rural and urban communities.

For more information about the Hispanic Family Equity Fund, visit www.healthyamericasfund.org/hispanicfamily.

About Healthy Americas Foundation

The Healthy Americas Foundation (HAF) seeks to improve the health of individuals and families throughout the Americas by innovating, incubating, and investing in community-based and designed efforts. HAF's initiatives are grounded in the experience of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and its many partners. HAF fosters community-driven efforts grounded in and celebrating the role of culture; redefining health as not merely absence of illness; and, nurturing wellness in body, mind, and spirit. Given its health mission HAF does not accept funds from tobacco, alcohol, or sugar sweetened beverage companies. For more information, please visit www.healthyamericasfund.org/hispanicfamily.

SOURCE Healthy Americas Foundation (HAF)