LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, February 3, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Shared Harvest Foundation today announced it is among 49 awardees across 22 U.S. states that received a grant from Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity, which mobilizes financial resources for organizations focused on non-clinical interventions that affect a person's health. Commonly known as the social determinants of health, these factors include an individual’s physical, social, political, cultural, and economic environment.

Shared Harvest Foundation launched their myCovidMD initiative during the beginning of the pandemic as an extension of the Shared Harvest Fund, a social enterprise that shows companies how to do good and do well at the same time by matching employees and independent workers with nonprofit organizations, leveraging their talents while offering rewards that help to reduce student loan debt. The myCovidMD™ Free Public Telehealth Platform and the Community Health Partners (CHP) Network was designed to get real resources to residents in low resourced communities in real time who are adversely impacted by the pandemic. The web application offers a low tech, high touch white glove experience to everyday people who are experiencing the challenges of getting access to testing, vaccinations and other wrap-around social services. As well as provide, student loan relief, mental health support and continue education in emergency response to SHF’s network of allied-health professionals.

In February of 2021, they launched the VAXEQUITY Program in response to the low turnout of people of color getting vaccinated due to low access, distrust, and misinformation. The program offers block party style pop-up vaccination events targeting Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) that focus on building trust, debunking myths, addressing vaccine hesitancy and making vaccines available administered by providers of color.

Shared Harvest Foundation received $270,000 from the Fund for Health Equity to expand operational support for their Vaxequity program that addresses the prolonged impact of Covid-19 cases in low resource communities. The long and short term goals for the funding include 1) Improve the immediate and ongoing health of vulnerable black, indigenous people of color (BIPOC) targeted communities by increasing vaccine access and administration, 2) Increase access to culturally competent health advocates and navigators in order to build a trusted network for participants, and 3) Improve the overall well being of our frontline volunteers and allied – health professionals so that they may continue to function effectively to provide compassionate care in their roles, avoid burnout and/or financial instability of their own.

“This round of funding honors organizations on the front lines of their communities that are already working tirelessly to eliminate health disparities,” said Byron Scott, MD, MBA, co-chair of the Fund for Health Equity and board director of Direct Relief and chair of its Medical Advisory Council. “These funds will allow these exemplary organizations to continue innovation as they improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations across various communities in our country.

Lilly seeded the fund with a $5 million donation as a part of its Racial Justice Commitment, an endeavor to deliver resources like education, health care, economic stability and jobs within the communities where Lilly operates. Funding from Lilly will directly support four of the forty-nine organizations. Shared Harvest Foundation is included in the four organizations that Lilly’s funding will directly support.

ABOUT DIRECT RELIEF:
Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. For more information visit, www.directrelief.org.

ABOUT SHARED HARVEST:
The mission of Shared Harvest (SHF) is to spread compassion through wellness, service, and relief. At its core, Shared Harvest is intentional in improving four equity pillars: health, higher education, financial and digital equity. It became the first of its kind volunteer management solution intended to transform the liability of student loan debt into an asset class for social change. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SHF made a resilient shift to address both the crisis of debt and other social and political determinants of health. SHF launched the MyCovidMD™ telehealth network and the VAXEQUITY Program and became pioneers in bridging a community centered emergency response to the pandemic with student loan debt relief for essential volunteers. Founded by three Black women doctors, SHF is an equity game changer in the health tech & corporate social impact space. You can learn more about Shared Harvest’s B2B technology and community service initiatives at www.sharedharvestfund.com and www.covidmd.org. For additional information, contact Monique@mlwpr.com.

Monique Webber
MLWPR
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