Merck Commits Additional $150 Million to Improve Health Equity for Mothers

Here are notable new grant awards compiled by the Chronicle:

Merck

$150 million commitment through Merck for Mothers to reduce maternal mortality, advance health equity, and improve health outcomes for mothers and their children worldwide. This new commitment adds to the pharmaceutical company’s $500 million pledge in 2011.

Of the total, at least $15 million will support the Biden-Harris Maternal Health Call to Action to strengthen maternal health in the United States and eliminate racial health disparities during pregnancy and childbirth.

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

$103 million for 11 new projects to restore coastline habitats and protect biodiversity in the Gulf Coast regions of Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.

The grants are coming through its Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, which received $2.5 billion in court settlements following plea agreements between the U.S. Department of Justice and BP and Transocean for their roles in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

Bush Foundation

$100 million to the NDN Collective, which is based in Rapid City, S.D., and Nexus Community Partners in St. Paul, to seed these two community trust funds that will make grants for the economic empowerment of Black and Native communities in the upper Midwest.

In March the foundation pledged the money to address racial wealth gaps. Read more about the foundation’s goals for the community trust funds in the Chronicle.

Open Society Foundations

$42.5 million over five years to 15 organizations that are led by and serve people who are Asian American, Pacific Islander, Muslim, Arab, or South Asian.

The grants will support nonpartisan programs and direct advocacy on behalf of Asians who are marginalized.

Michael and Susan Dell Foundation

$36.6 million to Mobile Loaves and Fishes for its $150 million capital campaign to build an additional 1,400 homes in its Community First Village development for people in Austin, Tex., who have experienced chronic homelessness.

In addition, the foundation gave $1 million to Foundation Communities for the construction of 100 units on the Burleson property within the Community First! Village, and another $400,000 to LifeWorks to provide permanent housing for homeless youths.

Citi Foundation

$25 million to 50 nonprofit organizations through its Community Progress Makers program.

Each of the organizations has received an unrestricted grant of $500,000 to boost social and economic development in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington.

Windgate Foundation

$25 million challenge pledge to Arkansas State University to build the Windgate Hall of Art and Innovation. The grant includes a $5 million endowment for the building’s maintenance.

Amazon Housing Equity Fund

$21 million commitment to test a professional training and mentorship program that aims to increase the number of real-estate developers of color, particularly in the areas of affordable housing and inclusive community building.

The program will be offered through nonprofit groups in the three areas where Amazon has its offices: the Local Initiative Support Corporation in Puget Sound, Wash.; Capital Impact Partners in Arlington, Va.; and the Urban League of Middle Tennessee in Nashville.

Yawkey Foundation

$15 million commitment to Pine Street Inn to expand the homelessness organization’s housing program and create up to 500 new units of permanent, supportive housing in Boston over the next five years.

NBA Foundation

$11 million across 38 grants to create opportunities for employment, career advancement, and financial empowerment for Black youths.

Robert R. McCormick Foundation

$10 million over five years to the Better Government Association to establish the Illinois Solutions Partnership, which will bolster journalism in the state, particularly investigative and enterprise reporting.

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

$3.4 million to Friends of the Children to expand a two-generation approach to mentoring youths in foster care, as well as conduct a randomized controlled trial to study the program’s effectiveness over six years.

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

$2.3 million to CodePath to expand its existing programs at Florida International University and establish new programs at Florida Memorial University and Miami Dade College to increase ethnic and racial diversity in computer science and engineering.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation

$1.2 million to 11 nonprofit groups to expand access to health care coverage for people in Minnesota.

M.D. Anderson Foundation

$1 million pledge to the University of Houston College of Medicine to endow a professorship in medicine to improve health and health care in underserved communities in Houston and across Texas.

Truist Charitable Fund

$1 million to the St. Thomas University College of Law to support programs, symposia, and training through the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice.

Romulus T. Weatherman Foundation

$1 million to Jesuit Refugee Service/USA to resettle Afghan refugees in Portugal.

Among the refugees in this effort are 115 players and family members of the Afghanistan National Youth Women’s Soccer Team, people who aided Portugal, Germany, and Estonia during the Afghan war, and families seeking asylum from the Taliban.

New Grant Opportunity

The Motorola Solutions Foundation is accepting applications for grants to programs that support first responders, technology and engineering education, or a blend of these two areas. Nonprofit organizations may apply for grants worth up to $50,000. Priority will go to organizations in the following metropolitan areas: Baltimore; Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Salt Lake City; South Florida; Southern California; Vancouver, Canada; and Westminster, Colo. Letters of inquiry are due February 1, with full applications due April 14.

Send grant announcements to grants.editor@philanthropy.com.

Chronicle of Philanthropy subscribers also have full access to GrantStation’s searchable database of grant opportunities. For more information, visit our grants page.