CDP Week of Gratitude: The Humana Foundation

This week, as people across the United States look forward to a day of giving thanks, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) is highlighting a small number of stories of impact and expressing our gratitude to a small subset of our partners and donors who have made the work we do possible.

Impact Partner: The Humana Foundation

Since mid-2018, the CDP consulting services team has supported the Humana Foundation in a strategic planning process to guide the Foundation’s disaster grantmaking efforts. Our work with the Foundation has resulted in a new approach for disaster giving that ties the Foundation’s mission and its philanthropy across the disaster life cycle. With our guidance, the Foundation has focused, refined and communicated its grantmaking parameters and developed relationships with leading humanitarian assistance organizations with the hope of forming multi-year partnerships.

Then COVID-19 hit. The needs of communities around Louisville, Kentucky, the home of Humana’s headquarters, and other cities and regions where it has invested in improving health care during weather-related and climate disasters dramatically increased during the pandemic’s spring outbreak. When CDP announced it would launch a COVID-19 Response Fund, Humana was quick to respond. It is the Fund’s largest single funder to date.

Humana was confident that CDP’s experience and sophisticated disaster grantmaking approach would provide critical frontline service providers with resources to respond to communities’ evolving needs. Grants from the COVID-19 Response Fund enabled organizations to make rapid and necessary adjustments that prioritized Black, Indigenous and other communities of color most at risk, health care workers and others whose employment had been jeopardized by the pandemic.

Humana’s contribution to the COVID-19 Response Fund strengthened more than 50 organizations in Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and several nationwide initiatives. These groups were able to respond quickly to emerging outbreaks and the ripple effects of the virus on social determinants of health such as food security, psychosocial needs and education.

“The strength and sustainability of community organizations and those who care for others is critical in delivering holistic care to the communities we serve. The Humana Foundation strives to not only reduce existing barriers to social determinants of health but also offer support to key partners for short- and long-term relief and recovery,” said Walter Woods, Chief Executive Officer, Humana Foundation.

Sometimes, CDP’s work with philanthropic organizations strengthens their internal capacity to respond to disasters. At other times, these organizations decide to forego their own grantmaking, trusting CDP to accomplish that work on their behalf. In the case of the Humana Foundation, both have been true.

Thank you for your on-going partnership, Humana!