Excellus BlueCross BlueShield announced the recipients of its Health Equity Innovation Awards, designed to support community programs and services that focus on combating racial and ethnic health disparities across Upstate New York.
Last year, Excellus BCBS called on organizations to apply for grants that would fund initiatives, programs and research that confront the fundamental causes of health inequities, with an emphasis on the impact of structural racism.
The health plan hopes the awards will help to enhance the physical and mental health of local communities, reduce social disparities in healthcare, and promote equitable access to health services.
The funding, which totals more than $500,000, will benefit 19 nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations in the Rochester, Central New York/Southern Tier and Utica/North Country regions.
Recipients were chosen from an application pool of nearly 300 submissions based on their well-defined objectives and quantifiable results aimed at diminishing health disparities and advancing health equity.
Funding from the Excellus BCBS Health Equity Innovation Awards will support the following initiatives:
Rochester/ Finger Lakes Awardees
• Ibero American Action League, Inc.: Funding will support the community resource center as it offers English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes for adults and their children, starting in 2025.
• Partners in Community Development – BIPOC PEEEEEEK Parent Mental Health Project: Program will support mental health peer advocates to bring their direct experiences, along with an understanding of the culture and the stress and traumas they experience, to community residents.
• Prosper Rochester: Program will support the expansion of local students’ access to timely mental health services by strengthening school-community partnerships and leveraging shared resources.
• Rochester General Hospital: Program will support a train-the-trainer model and will use Rochester Regional Health-branded CPR training kits and American Heart Association CPR educators.
• Finger Lakes Community Action: Program will support free early intervention screenings for children aged 12-60 months throughout Wayne County.
Awardees in Central New York, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley
Excellus BCBS also awarded several nonprofit organizations in the Central New York, Southern Tier, Utica and the North Country regions. They are:
• Cayuga County Community Health Network, Inc.;
• Cortland Area Communities That Care Coalition, Inc.;
• Crouse Health Foundation;
• Farnham Family Services;
• Hopeprint, Inc.;
• SAGE Upstate;
• Syracuse Community Health Center;
• Broome County Council of Churches;
• CareFirstNY;
• Economic Opportunity Program;
• Family Service Society;
• Meals on Wheels of Chemung
County;
• MV Resource Center for Refugees;
• Planned Parenthood of the North Country.
For the latest information on Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s ’s community investments and partnerships, visit, ExcellusBCBS.com/community.