Current programs

The Blue Cross Foundation’s long-term, $10 million commitment to improve the health of Minnesota communities combines grantmaking with foundation operating programs in four strategic initiatives on health and immigration, children’s health, health leadership and public policy.

For further information about the foundation’s current grantmaking initiatives that address social determinants of health, see:

Healthy Together: Creating Community with New Americans

The Healthy Together grants program aims to reduce health disparities for immigrants and improve the health of the entire community. Its initial emphasis is on Minnesota's recent Hmong immigrants. More specifically, the foundation will award grants to address social adjustment and mental health, strengthen the capacity of immigrant-led organizations and their attention to health, and to foster exchanges between newcomers and the receiving community to promote healthier communities for all.

Growing Up Healthy: Kids and Communities

This statewide grantmaking initiative is designed to improve the health of Minnesota’s children through a focus on social and environmental determinants of health. The initiative supports community efforts to work at the intersection of health and two or more of the following health determinants: early childhood development; stable, affordable housing; and the physical environment. It is designed to help communities work across sectors in new ways to create an environment that nurtures the healthy growth and development of children under the age of five.