City of Boulder Releases Its 2020 Health Equity Fund Report

The City of Boulder has released its annual Health Equity Fund (HEF) Report for the 2020 program year. The Health Equity Fund provides grants to organizations that promote health equity for Boulder community members experiencing health disparities.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the health disparity gap, the city’s commitment to health equity is resulting in more community members getting and staying healthy. The program is the funded by the city’s Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax. From 2017 – when the tax went into effect – to December 2020 the city awarded nearly $14 million for health equity programs that provide healthy food, nutrition education, physical fitness, direct health care services and wellness education.

The report outlines key community impacts that resulted from HEF-funded programs. Thousands of Boulder community members have directly benefitted from these programs and are reporting increased food security, increased physical activity, reduced consumption of sugary drinks and greater access to holistic health care. HEF grantees also helped determine programmatic community-wide health equity goals, such as fewer barriers to health services, reduced disparities in chronic disease rates and increased use of health equity policies and practices.

“Achieving health equity requires us to meet community members’ immediate health needs, and to address the root causes of health disparities, such as poverty, racism and heterosexism, through systematic change,” said Housing and Human Services Department Manager Elizabeth Crowe. “Through the HEF we can ensure substantial health equity improvements in our community now and for future generations.”

For more information about the Health Equity Fund, including details on funding allocations from 2017-2021, visit the city's website.