Nearly $1 Million in Grants Awarded by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma to Improve Lives of Oklahomans

TULSA, Okla. - Twenty-two Oklahoma nonprofits have been selected to receive more than $993,000 in Blue Impact℠ grants from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma. The awardees were announced at a breakfast BCBSOK hosted at the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. The grants target the social and economic factors that play a role in Oklahomans' health and wellness.

"As a company that is member-owned, we seek to improve and promote the health of all Oklahomans every day," said Stephania Grober, BCBSOK president. "We recognize the role certain factors play in someone's everyday life - having opportunities for a good-paying job, access to nutritious food and affordable housing to name a few. These grants directly target those barriers to health and wellness and support the organizations working to make an impact across the state."

Through the Blue Impact grant program, BCBSOK invests in and partners with nonprofits that offer sustainable, measurable programs to reach Oklahomans in five focus areas. The impact areas and 2024 awardees are:

Economic Opportunity and Stability: Addressing issues such as poverty, removing barriers to employment, providing good jobs and upskilling.

• Northeast OKC Nonprofit Incubator: Cohort support.
• University of Oklahoma College of Nursing: Nursing on the move.
• University of Tulsa: STRETCHED program.

Nutrition: Supporting efforts to decrease hunger and increase access to nutritious food.

• Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma: Frozen meals program.
• Hunger Free Oklahoma: Summer nutrition programs.
• La Cosecha Initiative: Healthy and nutritious food initiative.
• Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma: Medically tailored meals pilot.

Neighborhood and Built Environments: Focusing on affordable healthy housing, access to transportation and access to physical activity.

• Kendall Whittier INC: Tipton community garden.
• Key to Home: Key to home partnership.
• OKC Beautiful: Bilingual school garden program.
• Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness: Outdoor learning environment grant.
• YWCA TULSA: Refugee health promotion.

Locally Defined Health Solutions: Addressing local health and human service needs.

• BeHeard Movement: Mobile drop-in center.
• Coffee Bunker: Welcome home.
• Not Your Average Joe: Program expansion.
• Oklahoma Dental Foundation: Dental care in rural schools.
• Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality: Western Oklahoma wellness.

Optimal Health Outcomes: Helping close gaps in care, specifically around six priority areas: immunizations, diabetes care, cardiovascular care, behavioral health, early detection cancer screening and maternal and infant health.

• American Cancer Society: I love you, get screened.
• Infant Crisis Services: Specialty formula initiative.
• Lilyfield: Clinic counseling program.
• Oklahoma State University Center for Human Performance: HPNRI education program.
• Parkside: ProgressionSafe.

"Our investment into these organizations isn't a one-time effort," Grober said. "We continually partner with and volunteer at these organizations and many others throughout the year. We are committed to improving the health and wellness for all Oklahomans."

For information about BCBSOK's Blue Impact grants, visit bcbsok.com.

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About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma
For 84 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma has been committed to meeting the health care financing needs of Oklahomans. As the state's oldest and largest private health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma provides health care benefit plans for more than 800,000 Oklahomans. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma is a division of Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Company, an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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