The $50 million Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund, launched through collaboration of eight leading philanthropic organizations, will seek to leverage increased public and policymaker attention on care infrastructure.
The CARE Fund, announced Tuesday, is a multi-year investment among The Ford Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, Perigee Fund, Pivotal Ventures and Open Society Foundation.
“The pandemic has spotlighted the indefensible gap between how much society depends on the care economy and how little we invest in it,” said Melinda French Gates, founder of Pivotal Ventures and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This gap is detrimental to everyone — especially women, families and people of color — and it hinders the overall economy. The CARE Fund is a collective effort to strengthen every part of our country’s care infrastructure.”
The collaborative fund will invest in efforts to create quality and affordable care with fair wages and benefits for care workers, and it already has made $2.5 million in rapid response grants. “We must care for the essential workers who care for our children and people who are sick and aging,” said Tom Perriello, executive director of Open Society-U.S. “The CARE Fund and #CareCan’tWait are designed to make sure we address our nation’s pre-existing conditions and build a care economy that guarantees paid leave, childcare and long-term care for all.”
