L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan, announced Tuesday that it has awarded nearly $1 million in grants to the United Way of Greater Los Angeles to help frontline workers and homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic.
The largest grant — $500,000 — is for the United Way’s Health Pathways Expansion Program, which will allow health providers to expand full-spectrum healthcare delivered onsite in interim housing during the pandemic, and will help healthcare providers identify and enroll and least 350 people in Medi-Cal or other appropriate coverage.
The grant will also provide for up to 900 visits to 720 homeless people across the county, officials said.
The other grant will provide $475,000 for personal protective equipment for up to 5,000 frontline workers, along with the procurement and distribution of food, tents, sleeping bags or other shelter-in-place equipment to as many as 10,000 people living on the streets. Essential supplies, including masks, health kits and hygiene kits, will also be provided.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened an already tragic situation. Stay-at-home orders don’t mean much for people living on the streets,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care’s CEO. “Survival strategies they often use are no longer available with places like libraries closed, and other resources strained due to COVID-19 job losses.”
Elise Buik, United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ president and CEO, said access to quality medical care is “hard to get in the best of times for people experiencing homelessness and the pandemic made this nearly impossible.”
“The two L.A. Care grants give our vulnerable neighbors access to life saving care and essential supplies, and they also keep the hardworking people who serve them safe through personal protective equipment,” Buik said.