ST PAUL, Minn. — On Monday, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, in partnership with Dr. Michael Osterholm, launched the Frontline Families Fund.
According to Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and member of President-Elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 task force, the goals for the fund are to provide financial support to the families of nearly 1,400 frontline health care workers who have died due to COVID-19. This support will include post-secondary education scholarships offered to their children.
"I’m deeply troubled by the steep toll COVID-19 is taking among our frontline health care workers,” said Osterholm in a press release. “We can never make right what happened to these families. But we can do something for them as they have been there to care for us. This pandemic is so painful. We need a pandemic of caring to take it on.”
The fund also hopes to shine a light on the pandemic's disproportionate impact on Black and Indigenous communities. Because of this, priority will be given to families who are BIPOC and those who have demonstrated socio-economic needs.
"[Dr. Osterholm] has identified urgent needs and profound inequities created by the pandemic," said Jeremy Wells, senior vice president of philanthropic services for the foundation. "We are mustering the foundation’s resources to get the fund into operation quickly, enlist additional partners and orchestrate further awareness and fundraising campaigns."
The foundation plans to make scholarships available for the 2021-22 school year, through another partner for the fund, Scholarship America. The foundation is also collaborating with the Brave of Heart Fund for its family relief grants.
Eligible families can learn more about the grants available on the Frontline Families Fund's website. Those interested in donating to the fund can find information here.
