Oprah Winfrey is providing grants to cities she’s called home through her $12 million COVID-19 relief fund.
The TV mogul announced on Wednesday that her Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation will be donating money to several organizations dedicated to helping underserved communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
The grants support organizations in cities Winfrey has called “home,” including Chicago; Nashville; Milwaukee; Baltimore; and Kosciusko, Mississippi, where she was born.
“I’m proud to be able to support the communities I have called home,” Winfrey said in a statement. “These organizations are working tirelessly on the ground to help those hit the hardest by the pandemic, meeting people where they are and serving in ways needed most.”
Related Story: Director Deon Taylor Fears Black Films Will ‘Get Cut’ From Studio Budgets After Coronavirus
The funds will go to organizations such as Live Healthy Chicago, which provides care to high-risk residents affected by coronavirus.
NashvilleNurtures was selected as a grant recipient and will use its donation to provide immediate food relief to over 10,000 residents in the Nashville area.
In Milwaukee, where Oprah lived with her mother, funds will be donated to two different organizations — SaintA and The Nia Imani Family, Inc. The two programs work to provide mental health care for African-American communities who have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus, and will assist in providing homes to those recovering from homelessness.
Winfrey is also donating to The Boys and Girls Club of Kosciusko, Mississippi to support a drive-thru food pantry that provides meals for children in East Mississippi.
In Baltimore, where Winfrey built her media career, she’s donating money to Living Classrooms Foundation and Center for Urban Families, both of which are working to address the city’s cycle of poverty.
In April of this year, Winfrey also made a $10 million donation to aid other organizations assisting in coronavirus relief efforts , as Urban Hollywood 411 previously reported.
Additional recipients of the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation COVID-19 Relief Fund include:
America’s Food Fund – including donations to the sweetgreen Impact Outpost Fund, Second Harvest of Nashville, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository
Minnie’s Food Pantry in Plano, Texas
Direct Relief in partnership with the Sean Combs Dance-A-Thon
New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois
The MAAFA Redemption Project in Chicago, Illinois
Global Citizen
Unity Shoppe, Inc. in Santa Barbara, California
