A new grant opportunity through the Atena Foundation's 2017 Cultivating Healthy Communities grant is open, offering up to $2 million in grants to organizations that increase opportunities for low-income, minority communities to make healthy choices in the places they live, work, learn, and play. Grant requests can range between $50,000 and $100,000 for projects that span 18 to 24 months. They are seeking partners whose work addresses pressing issues in the following domains: Built Environment, Community Safety, Environmental Exposures, Healthy Behaviors, and Social/Economic Factors.
This will be a highly competitive funding opportunity structured in two stages. Stage 1 involves a short application where all eligible organizations are invited to submit an online Stage 1 application ...
Latinos in certain Chicago neighborhoods face worse physical and mental health and more food insecurity than nationwide, according to a new report, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. For the report, the Sinai Community Health Survey 2.0, researchers from the Sinai Urban Health Institute surveyed 1,900 residents in nine ethnically diverse Chicago neighborhoods, including Gage Park (92% Latino), Humboldt Park (89%) and South Lawndale (84%). Chicago is 29% Latino overall. “The data paint a stark and complex picture of health and wellness in many Chicago communities, varied by race, income and ethnicity,” said Dr. Sharon Homan, president of the Sinai Urban Health Institute, told the Sun-Times. “To develop meaningful interventions to improve health, we must first understand the ...
Determining the best way to reach Latinos has always been one of the biggest questions that health care workers always ask. Language barriers, trust issues, and cultural differences are just some of the barriers that often create inequities for many Latinos. At Mercer University in Macon, GA (3.14% Latino population), students launched a community health fair aimed at reaching Latinos in an effort to alleviate some of the lingering health concerns of the community. “Since the Hispanic population is growing a lot, we need more representation, more people that can help because that affects the whole community,” said Dr. Jose Pino, a professor of foreign languages and literature at Mercer University in an interview with WMAZ. “In some institutions they don't have bilingual ...
Latinos face many barriers to healthcare, and thus suffer high rates of diabetes, obesity, and cancer. That’s why community health workers are so vital. These workers, often called promotores de salud or educadoras in Latino communities, provide culturally tailored health education, social support, and connections to resources to help Latinos overcome cultural, language, and other barriers to mental and physical healthcare. We are happy to spotlight a few of these amazing Latino community health workers.
Mayola Cruz: Latino Bridge-Builder
Mayola Cruz says she loves to talk. So much so that the Craig, Colo., resident learned English to amplify her voice. Cruz now uses her conversational personality to help give voice to Latinos’ healthcare needs as a member of ...
With the little “casita” (home) as a sentimental reminder of her childhood home and her late grandmother, Gabrielle Castellanos caring nature shines through. Castellanos truly cares about others through her desire to pursue a master’s degree and a PhD, and then apply what she learns to improve health in the community. She creates unique ways to help people live healthier lifestyles, whether it’s through a better diet, stress management, or cancer and chronic disease prevention—or a super-innovative way to integrate all of these elements. Castellanos, a native of San Antonio and a graduate of Health Careers High School, earned her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Science at Texas A&M University. She is now pursuing a master’s degree in Allied Health Education ...
Latinos suffer fast differences in health and social conditions compared to other racial and ethnic groups, particularly whites. These differences, called health disparities, are rooted in social disadvantage and are often unavoidable. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in Boston, Mass. (18.81% Latino population), has released a new report discussing the growing health and income disparities in the area. Some of the report’s findings include new stats about the rapidly rising rates of youth asthma hospitalizations in Greater Boston. According to the findings, the rate has increased by 22 hospitalizations per 100,000 from 2003-2007 to 2008-2012. One of the chief causes has been the growing number of Latino youth asthma cases. “In the asthma arena what [the findings] ...
Salud America! The RWJF Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children has received a one-year, $1.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to develop culturally tailored educational content and tools that empower people to work for policy changes to help Latino children grow up healthy. Salud America!, established in 2007 and based at UT Health San Antonio, has a national online network of 100,000 parents, school and academic personnel, and community leaders who support its mission: “Promote a healthy weight for Latino children by communicating good health and driving people to start healthy changes in their schools and communities.” The new funding will allow Salud America! to expand its network and engage members with enhanced educational ...
The Salud America! national Latino childhood obesity prevention program has received a one-year, $1.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to empower people to work for policy changes to help Latino children grow up healthy. Salud America!, established in 2007 and based at UT Health San Antonio, has a national online network of 100,000 parents, health providers, and school and community leaders who support its mission: "Inspire people to drive community change for the health of Latino and all kids." The new funding will allow Salud America! to expand its network and engage members with enhanced educational content—multimedia role model stories, social media events, online resources, digital action campaigns, and marketing—geared toward healthy ...
How we get around each day shapes our physical and mental health, and overall quality of life. Walkable communities are consistently found to be healthier communities. Demand for walkability has steadily increased. Regional transportation planning agencies and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) play a critical role in planning and constructing more convenient, attractive, and safe places to walk or bike for transportation, recreation, and/or health because they are the gatekeepers of billions of transportation dollars. The American Public Health Association and Transportation for America developed a policy paper outlining four policy levers for MPOs to prioritize health in their plans, projects, and policies to decrease health disparities and increase access to local ...
