The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation recently announced that it has awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to 11 nonprofit organizations across Minnesota. The grants are for two years and range from $20,000 to $100,000 per year.

Expanding access to health care coverage across the state

The grants are part of the Foundation’s Access to Coverage strategy, and they will primarily be used to fund local outreach navigators. These trained and certified navigators specialize in connecting with and supporting fellow community members who are uninsured and eligible for programs like MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance. They work to increase awareness of the importance of obtaining and maintaining health insurance, provide community members with available resources and support them through the enrollment process.

“Being able to access health care is crucial to the health of our communities,” says Bukata Hayes, Foundation board chair and vice president of racial and health equity at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. “Connecting communities to the support and care they need is an essential component to increasing health care coverage. These grants are the latest way the Foundation is advancing racial and health equity by supporting organizations embedded in the communities most impacted by this lack of access, including communities of color, Indigenous communities, the LGBTQ community and those in a lower income bracket.”

Connecting with community to provide support

One organization receiving a new grant through this funding is Seeds of Justice, an organization based out of Worthington. Through research funded by the Foundation in the University of Minnesota’s SHADAC program, Worthington was recently identified as a “hotspot” of high uninsurance rates, with more than 10 percent of the population lacking coverage.

With this grant, Seeds of Justice will engage with community members to better understand the barriers they face in accessing health care and will connect community members with available resources.

“This grant is one of many examples of how we root our work in the assets and needs of the community,” says Carolyn Link, Foundation president. “We believe that community has the answers, and we are proud to partner with our grantees to build relationships, connect people to resources and support the solutions that the community identifies.”

Learn more here.