America’s Heroes: A Light For Those Still in the Dark

Whatever happens with the new phase of the pandemic, and the glimmers of normalcy that bring joy and hope to many, the light at the end of the tunnel is difficult to see for many. This is particularly true of the loved ones of the nearly 4,000 U.S. healthcare workers who have died from COVID-related illness. Not only are these people coping with the death of their loved one, they may have lost the main breadwinner and be overwhelmed with the stress of paying for a funeral, paying their mortgage, or sending their children to college. But help may be at hand.

Assistance Available
In May 2020, the Brave of Heart Fund was launched by the foundations of New York Life and Cigna, alongside charitable partner E4E Relief, to provide monetary grants that can help ease the financial and emotional burden of the families of front-line healthcare workers and volunteers nationwide who lost their lives to COVID-19.

Reaching Eligible Families
The Fund’s $15,000 Phase 1 grants are available to certain spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, children, and siblings of the deceased who are responsible for funeral expenses.
The Fund’s Phase 2 grants of up to $60,000 are available to certain family members who were financially dependent on the healthcare worker’s income for basic living expenses such as housing, utilities and childcare.
All grantees have access to emotional support and bereavement resources at no cost.
A recent Brave of Heart Fund grantee reflected on the financial support provided, “The Brave of Heart Fund truly saved my life by providing me assistance after losing my husband. The financial grant I received helped me make payments on my car so I could continue getting to work. Through their assistance, I was also able to maintain payments so that I could stay in the home that my husband and I had lived in for years.”

How You Can Help
Anyone can help these families in need by sharing this information: The Fund will accept grant applications through December 31, 2021. Families of healthcare workers and volunteers nationwide—including doctors, nurses, technicians, orderlies, cafeteria workers, custodians, and others—who lost their lives working on the front lines of the healthcare industry during the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible to apply.
For further information or to apply to the Fund, go to www.braveofheartfund.com.