Lifelines for Families of Healthcare Workers
The Frontline Families Fund provides support to families of frontline workers who died of COVID-19.
The pandemic disproportionately impacted Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), causing higher mortality rates and illuminating how racial inequities have life-and-death consequences in these communities. Black people are 50 percent more likely to work in healthcare and social assistance industries and 40 percent more likely to work in hospitals. The Latinx community has been similarly affected.
In partnership with epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation launched the Frontline Families Fund in 2020 to provide direct financial support to families and scholarships for post-secondary education to the children of healthcare workers who have lost their lives to COVID-19.
More than 3,600 donors across all 50 states and beyond raised nearly $2 million in funds that are now being distributed as grants and scholarships via the Brave of Heart Fund and Scholarship America.
Scholarships & Previous Grants
Scholarship America provides the children of healthcare workers who’ve lost a parent to COVID-19 with post-secondary scholarships to cover educational expenses. The first scholarships were granted for the 2021 – 2022 academic year.
Request updates for the next application period.
The Brave of Heart Fund provided cash grant awards to families for financial support, such as funeral costs, medical care, counseling, food, educational expenses of children and other dependents currently in school, mortgage and or rent payments and living expenses.
More Resources
- Lost on the Frontline - The Guardian and Kaiser Health News
- Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
- Brave of Heart Fund
- Scholarship America
- APM Research Lab
This post was originally published in March 2021 and updated on Sept. 27, 2022.
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