$5 Million Oprah Winfrey Grant Accelerates West Side United, Chicago COVID-19 Prevention Efforts as Member of Live Healthy Chicago

A $5 million donation from the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation will accelerate efforts to decrease the COVID-19 death rates in Chicago’s predominately black and Latino communities, which have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic compared to white Chicagoans, while also strengthening longer-term efforts to address the root causes of this health inequity.

The gift will fund the efforts of Live Healthy Chicago, a Chicago collaborative that assists older adults and other high-risk populations in the city who are experiencing disparities in COVID-19’s impact. Live Healthy Chicago was launched in April by local organizations West Side United, Rush University Medical Center, the MAAFA Redemption Project, My Block My Hood My City and Forty Acres Fresh Market. (See below for details about these organizations.)