Every day, the Colorado Health Foundation (CHF) strives to create a world where receiving health care is fair and equal to all.

Whether helping a health care organization purchase an adequate amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) or helping underprivileged groups obtain healthcare services, CHF goes to lengths many others don’t.

For CHF’s willingness to continuously assist other organizations by awarding over $40 million in grant relief, Gov. Jared Polis named the non-profit as a recipient of the COVID-19 Hero Medal, one of the Governor’s Citizenship Medals.

“For the governor’s office to recognize the commitment of the foundation, the work of the foundation, and how we have really pivoted to bringing relief to COVID, is really special,” said CHF’s President and CEO Karen McNeil-Miller.

The many groups to receive funds from CHF include the Vega Collegiate Academy, a kindergarten through 8th grade prep school in Aurora, which received $10,000 that helped each student get everything needed for virtual learning.

“The pandemic really hit our community incredibly hard, and with the help from CHF, gave us funding to assure that each family had a Chromebook, internet access and a food bank program to make sure our students were not hungry,” said Kathryn Mullins, the executive director for the academy.

Of the 313 students that attend the academy, approximately 95% of them are on free and reduced lunch, so assuring those students had food after transitioning to online learning was vital, Mullins said.

“We’d call school superintendents to tell them they’ve been awarded money and some would just start crying, because they were worried about the families who don’t have access to a laptop or internet, and for the students who rely on the meals at school each day,” said McNeil-Miller.

“Despite the pandemic being an incredibly hard time for many people, those conversations gave us something to smile about.”

Peak Vista Community Health Centers, which serve over 93,000 patients in six counties across the state, received $85,000 from CHF that helped purchase PPE and form a Telehealth service, said President and CEO Pamela McManus.

“The money that they gave us allowed us to do some updates, and really work on our Telehealth program which was really non-existent before COVID,” McManus said.

“It also allowed us to buy PPE for our staff and our providers which was extremely difficult to do in the beginning (of the pandemic), so having some extra resources helped assure access.”

In addition to helping school districts, non-profits and health care organizations during the pandemic, CHF was responsible for running the governor’s COVID Relief Fund.

And within a week of being assigned the task, CHF had all the software in place, a website online and had organized a committee of community members that assessed each grant application.

“I think Coloradans now and in the future can really look at this year’s class of winners as folks who stood for progress and change, and moving Colorado forward, overcoming adversity, and really rose to the occasion in so many different ways to leave a lasting legacy for our state,” said Polis in a video about the COVID-19 Hero recipients.

But as the vaccine for COVID-19 begins to be administered and the light begins to shine at the end of the tunnel, McNeil-Miller says CHF will continue helping those in need during the recovery phase.

“We will still see the impact of this pandemic for the next five or six years for families and organizations, and for some, they may never recover,” said McNeil-Miller. “So the impact on the community is going to continue and we’ll continue to do every we can to help.”