The California Endowment is announcing Tuesday that it plans to spend $25 million over three years to make up for spending cuts that poor people may suffer under the Trump administration. The Fight4All grants will also help nonprofits deal with other federal changes, including a possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act and stepped-up deportation of immigrants and will support artists and others who promote the role of minorities in America.
In January, the foundation, which has $3.8 billion in assets and made $185 million in grants in fiscal 2015, plans to issue a request for proposals.
To pay for the grants, the foundation is reallocating some money it had planned to spend on nonprofits that are carrying out the Obamacare plan and the expansion of Medicaid, the federal health-care program for the poor.
Acting Quickly
In the weeks since the election, foundations that support progressive causes have taken a number of approaches to the incoming administration. Some, like the San Francisco Foundation will make seed grants to organizations that are building grass-roots movements. Others, including the Hewlett Foundation, are keeping reserve funds on hand so they can rush support to nonprofits if the need arises. Still others are waiting to see what the administration does before they commit any new spending.
Robert Ross, president of the California Endowment, said he understood why some foundations were “watching and waiting.”
But he said the federal programs under threat of cuts or elimination and the tenor of the campaign made it necessary to act quickly. Dr. Ross said he was concerned that the number of uninsured people in California, which was more than halved since the introduction of Obamacare, could rise sharply under the Trump administration. And he feared that if left unchecked, attacks on religious and ethnic minorities and LGBTQ people would continue.
“We had, as a result of the national election, the promotion of a narrative of exclusion,” he said. “The attack lines are very clear.”
The Fight4All effort will include grants to change that narrative, Dr. Ross said. Details are still being hashed out, but he expects the endowment to support artists, storytellers, and musicians to fight back against what he calls the “othering” of people based on their race, religion, and other aspects of their identity.
The new effort follows a letter the endowment’s board issued in November that affirmed its mission to ensure the “health, safety, and equity of all Californians” and a statement from Jane Garcia, the endowment’s board chair, that “policy developments from Washington may well threaten the health, safety, and well-being of many of our communities.”
About a month after voters cast their ballots, Dr. Ross was a guest at the White House, as President Obama detailed some of the progress being made in his administration’s My Brother’s Keeper program to provide opportunities to minority boys and young men.
Reflecting on the election results, Dr. Ross ventured that he might not be as welcome in the future: “I assume it will be my last invitation to the White House for quite some time.”
