Excellus BlueCross BlueShield recently announced the recipients of its Health Equity Innovation Awards, designed to support community programs and services that focus on combating racial and ethnic health disparities across upstate New York.

Last year, Excellus BCBS called on organizations to apply for grants that would fund initiatives, programs and research that confront the fundamental causes of health inequities, with an emphasis on the impact of structural racism.

The health plan hopes the awards will help to enhance the physical and mental health of our communities, reduce social disparities in healthcare and promote equitable access to health services.

The funding, which totals more than $500,000, will benefit 19 nonprofit organizations in the Rochester, Central New York/Southern Tier, and Utica/North Country regions.

Recipients were chosen from an application pool of nearly 300 submissions based on their well-defined objectives and quantifiable results aimed at diminishing health disparities and advancing health equity.

The Rochester area awardees are:

* Ibero American Action League, Inc.: Funding will support the community resource center as it offers English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes for adults and their children, starting in 2025.

* Partners in Community Development - BIPOC PEEEEEEK Parent Mental Health Project: Program will support mental health peer advocates to bring their direct experiences, along with an understanding of the culture and the stress and traumas they experience, to community residents.

* Prosper Rochester: Program will support the expansion of local students' access to timely mental health services by strengthening school-community partnerships and leveraging shared resources.

* Rochester General Hospital: Program will support a train-the-trainer model and will use Rochester Regional Health-branded CPR training kits and American Heart Association CPR educators, and