The Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund will invest $50 million over five years in movement building for a universal publicly supported care infrastructure that will fuel economies, improve the wellbeing of kids and families, create millions of good jobs, promote equity, and enable people with disabilities and older adults to live independently with safety and dignity.
Why Care - Why Now
Giving and receiving care is deeply personal. It also is foundational for healthy communities and a vibrant economy. At some point in all our lives, we will be caregivers and we will benefit from the care of loved ones and professional care workers.
Yet our public and corporate policies and our society’s devaluing of care make this fundamental act of love and humanity a challenge that families are expected to figure out on their own. It shouldn’t be this hard.
That is why a diverse and growing group of funders are joining forces to build the cohesion, capacity, and power of the care movement to win care for all with respect and equity. We are aligning resources at scale to build the political will for bold public investment in paid family and medical leave, early care and education, aging and disability care, and quality care jobs.
The CARE Fund is a unique philanthropic collaboration focused on improving the livelihoods of paid and unpaid caregivers and the quality of care for all who need it, across generations. We believe such a holistic approach is essential to unraveling the legacies of racism, sexism, ageism, ableism and other oppressions embedded in our care economy.
Now Is the Time for Philanthropy to Meet the Moment for Care
Care featured more prominently in this election than ever before. Politicians responded to a groundswell of demand from voters for child care, home care, paid leave and decent care jobs. Where care was on the ballot, care won. Unfortunately, this happened in an election where vitriolic rhetoric also reinforced the legacies of racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ hate and xenophobia embedded in our care economy and our broader society.