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Two foundations awarded $3.6 million in grants to 12 nonprofits to address end-of-life care issues, particularly in underserved and vulnerable communities in Southern Arizona, officials said.

This is a second round of grants awarded through a partnership between the David and Lura Lovell Foundation and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.

The Lovell Foundation is a philanthropic family foundation that supports integrative health and wellness. The Community Foundation connects donors to the causes they support, serving as a link between philanthropy and community needs.

In 2017, more than $3 million was awarded to organizations, mostly in Pima County, from the foundations for end-of-life care projects.

This latest round of grants will go to programs addressing issues related to the awareness, understanding and availability of end-of-life care and planning. Projects will focus on changing the narrative of how we plan for and experience death and dying, officials said.

Organizations awarded funding for the next three years are:

Wild animals and outdoor enthusiasts could one day hike freely between Saguaro National Park and Pima County’s Sweetwater Preserve, thanks to a land acquisition announced this week. More info: http://tucne.ws/1fco (Video taken by Henry Brean / Arizona Daily Star on the land that was just added to Saguaro National Park’s Tucson Mountain District)
  • Banner Health Foundation
  • Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona
  • Dunbar Coalition
  • El Rio Health
  • Interfaith Community Services
  • Pima Council on Aging
  • Southern Arizona Senior Pride
  • Southwest Folklife Alliance
  • Step Up to Justice
  • Tu Nidito Children and Family Services
  • Tucson Medical Center Foundation
  • United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona

John Amoroso, executive director of the Lovell Foundation, said the partnership with the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona is “helping to create a culture shift in the way we talk about, prepare for and care for ourselves and our loved ones at the end of life in Southern Arizona and beyond.”

After the Lovell Foundation co-funded an award-winning film, “Passing On,” about a community that achieved a 95% advance directive completion rate, the foundation began working collaboratively with the Community Foundation to fund a larger initiative aimed at changing the conversation around dying in Pima County.

“A global pandemic and the exposure of racial inequities in health care, especially end-of-life care, has only heightened the need for this work,” said Amoroso in a news release.

The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona began supporting end-of-life care in 2010 when the estate of philanthropist Shaaron Kent, who died in 2001, established an endowment fund with the organization.

The fund was meant to support Kent’s work in hospice care issues and the universal experiences of death, dying and grieving.

“The increase in awareness of end-of-life care and in the services available to underserved members of our community compared to three years ago is a testament to the power of nonprofit and funding organizations working together to address complex issues,” said Kelly Huber, director of community investments at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.

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Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at cduarte@tucson.com or 573-4104. On Twitter: @cduartestar