The Brave of Heart Fund continues to support the bereaved families of healthcare workers lost to COVID-19 as they adjust to their new realities.
Aligning with the spirit and intent of the fund’s core purposes, The Brave of Heart Fund has formed partnerships with non-profit organizations to:
1
Provide scholarships to the families of frontline healthcare workers who lost their lives in the fight against COVID-19
3
Build resiliency for families who lost a primary caregiver to COVID-19 through grief and bereavement support
The hard work and sacrifice of healthcare workers continues to be honored via scholarship funding for their spouses, domestic partners, and children. These scholarships are non-competitive; therefore, all eligible applicants will receive some level of award.
Funds are available for:
- Accredited studies at the undergraduate level, in healthcare or non-healthcare related majors
- Graduate level studies in patient-facing healthcare
- Community college
- Vocational and technical coursework and programs
Non-traditional students and individuals enrolled in part-time coursework are also eligible.
In 2022, the Brave of Heart Scholarship awarded almost $2.25 million to support eligible family members in their pursuit of higher education.
Learn more about these awards.
Interested applicants should visit Scholarship America® to register and receive updates and alerts about ongoing application cycles.
Support the emotional well-being of healthcare workers
Through these partnerships, the Brave of Heart Fund strives to support efforts across the country to promote the emotional well-being of frontline healthcare workers and equip them to overcome challenges created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts include:
- Direct counseling
- Coping and resiliency skills
- Workplace well-being
- Reducing barriers to access
Center for Workplace Mental Health (American Psychiatric Association Foundation)
To develop high impact tools and resources for the healthcare sector to raise awareness about the urgency of their own mental health care, eradicate stigma about seeking help, and help improve access to care.
Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation
To create Provider Wellness Report Cards, to facilitate healthcare system self-examination and education around barriers that prevent physicians and nurses from seeking mental health treatment; and to provide assistance in eliminating these barriers.
To establish micro-pilots to address community-specific healthcare challenges, including resilience and skill-building (Los Angeles); life coaching (New York State); tribal and rural healthcare worker support (Montana); workplace wellness for hospitals (Dallas); and, help for support staff (Montgomery, Alabama).
National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI)
To scale the NAMI Frontline Wellness program digitally and in-person to provide customized mental health support and resources to health care professionals.
National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics
To promote the emotional and mental well-being of frontline workers in free and charitable clinics and equip them to overcome COVID-19 related challenges by increasing provider coping and resiliency skills, promoting workplace well-being and opportunities for peer exchange related to mental health, and disseminating provider mental health resources.
The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare
To provide healthcare leaders with a trauma- and resilience-informed approach to workforce well-being, enabling leaders to address new challenges, align and integrate existing workforce initiatives that otherwise would occur in separate, siloed departments, and receive support themselves.
To develop a program that provides training and support for hospital executives, leadership, and management to promote mental health among their staff, including individual and group support to healthcare workers with an added focus on grief and bereavement support.
Build resiliency for families who lost a primary caregiver to COVID-19 through grief and bereavement support
Per the COVID Collaborative, over 200,000 children in the United States have lost a primary caregiver to COVID-19 (as of 2/28/22).
The Brave of Heart Fund strives to support efforts across the country to provide children and the families of individuals (especially frontline healthcare workers) who lost their lives to COVID-19 with the resources needed to recover from their losses, and promote their long-term emotional well-being. These support services include:
- Grief and bereavement counseling
- Coping and resiliency skills
- Mentorship programs
To provide safe, nurturing in-person and virtual environments where kids and families can have traditional camp fun, while at the same time acquiring tools to help them cope with their loss.
Dougy Center: National Grief Center for Children & Families
To develop, distribute, track, and evaluate unique and currently unavailable resources, activities, and educational offerings to families who are grieving a COVID-19 death and the professionals who seek to support them.
To develop and manage in-person day camps and a virtual camp for children seeking bereavement assistance and support due to grieving the death of a loved one lost to COVID-19.
National Alliance for Children’s Grief
To support established bereavement providers in reaching those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, via bereavement groups, grief camps, direct counseling, and sharing resources among those supporting grieving children.
National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles)
To support schools and pediatric healthcare providers in highly COVID-19 impacted cities/communities through technical assistance, consultation, professional development, and leadership support, preparing them to help students cope with grief.
TAG Center (Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute)
To provide free, evidence-based assessment and treatment for youth with mental health problems due to COVID-19 deaths; and to train school- and community-based clinicians in Multidimensional Grief Therapy, an evidence-based intervention designed to reduce youth maladaptive grief, PTSD, and suicide risk.
To establish a framework for trauma and bereavement-informed youth mentoring for the unprecedented number of children who have lost a parent, primary caregiver, or family member to COVID-19, and to build the capacity of community service providers to address unprecedented needs for long-term support for grieving children.
Promote diversity in the healthcare workforce by supporting education and training
Through these partnerships, the Brave of Heart Fund strives to support efforts across the country to diversify the future population of healthcare workers, and remove barriers to entry and advancement for those currently underrepresented in the field.
To work with community colleges to (1) understand equity gaps in program enrollments/completions to design strategies to improve outcomes within existing health sciences programs; (2) identify opportunities to expand high mobility programs and pathways; and (3) consider how their program portfolio might evolve to meet the needs of the health care system.
The Health Equity Leaders Program: To provide financial and mentorship support to create a cadre of BIPOC Underrepresented in Medicine students who are committed to realizing health equity.
The Health Equity Institute: To be established as a manifestation of NMF’s strategic pillars for advancing health equity.