Highmark community fund announces $1.1M in grants

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware recently announced the most recent recipients of its BluePrints for the Community grant funding. Nine Delaware nonprofits will receive a total of more than $1.1 million.

Established as a donor-advised fund at the Delaware Community Foundation, BluePrints for the Community has contributed more than $16 million to the community since its inception in 2007. The fund supports projects that focus on social determinants of health, increasing access to healthcare, decreasing health disparities, promoting early childhood health, and healthcare workforce development.

Highmark Delaware is looking forward to partnering with these newest grantees on their respective programs and projects to improve health outcomes: Bayhealth Foundation: Bayhealth Family Medicine Residency program; Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence: Domestic Violence Community Health Worker Collaborative program; Delaware Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement: Impaired Driving Simulator program; Family Counseling Center of St. Paul's: Expansion of Continuum of Care program; Mental Health Association in Delaware: Community Education and Training program; Pressley Ridge Delaware: Expansion of Care for Foster Youth Returning Home program; St. Francis Foundation: Enhanced Ambulance Services project; University of Delaware: Veterans & College Athletes Together program; and YMCA: LiveStrong cancer support program.

BluePrints for the Community awarded $1.3 million to 10 organizations in March. It also contributed $100,000 each to the Delaware Does More COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund and the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to join efforts in alleviating community challenges brought on by the pandemic. Additionally, more than $196,000 has been disbursed to 13 organizations in the form of BluePrints small grants, for a total of more than $2.5 million committed to the community in 2020 alone.

“Community is key,” said Nick Moriello, President of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware. “Highmark has always believed that, and it rings true especially now. Our grant fund BluePrints for the Community has been supporting health-related projects in Delaware for more than a decade, and we plan to continue doing so as long as our community needs us.”

Organizations interested in applying for a BluePrints grant should visit www.highmark.com/about/corporate-responsibility/corporate-giving/highmar....