Looking Back on 10 Years: Healthy Communities funding improves quality of life
Post date: June 3, 2015 12:56 AM
In 2015, HCF is celebrating 10 years of grantmaking. Each month, the Local Health Buzz blog will feature a guest post from a current or former HCF Board of Director, Associate or Community Advisory Committee member to look back on the past 10 years at HCF.
By Roberta Coker, former chair of the HCF Programs and Grant Committee
In 2005 when the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City was first beginning, the founding board of directors conducted many thoughtful discussions and research to focus the HCF’s funding. They selected the three areas of health that remain as the Foundation’s funding priorities: healthy lifestyles, mental health and safety net.
While all of these areas are critical in achieving HCF’s mission of eliminating barriers to quality health, as someone who has spent her career in education, I can speak firsthand about the importance that access to healthy foods and physical activity have in building healthy children, families and communities.
During the past 10 years, nearly $28 million has been awarded through Healthy Lifestyles in areas such as developing community and school gardens, making access to safer outdoor venues, reducing childhood obesity, increasing physical activity, providing nutritional programming, and promoting a tobacco-free environment.
Recently the Healthy Lifestyles grant name was changed to Healthy Communities. The new name doesn’t change the focus of the grant, but better reflects HCF’s goal of creating environments that encourage healthy choices, so that all individuals in the community benefit.
This year HCF has allocated $2.4 million for Healthy Communities funding and the Board of Directors will approve the official 2015 Healthy Communities grantees at next week’s board meeting.
Other HCF funding streams such as special initiatives and Applicant Defined Grants also promote healthier living. Of particular importance to me as I look back on the past 10 years was the unsuccessful effort to increase Missouri’s low tobacco tax through Proposition B. HCF supported the tobacco tax increase through its Prop B initiative funding. This issue continues to be among the priorities of those who identify a correlation between smoking and severe health issues.
Yet despite HCF’s significant funding pool, the amount we can dedicate to building health communities cannot begin to meet the entire needs of the underserved and uninsured within our service area. On top of money the Foundation dedicates to healthy communities, there is also a lot of work being done to incorporate partnerships, collaboration, advocacy, communication, and evaluation.
While access to fresh produce, playgrounds and clean air may seem basic to healthy living, they are still out of reach to our service areas. But with time, we hope to change that, through funding programs that bring healthy food to food deserts, supporting clean air policy changes and working with communities who hope to improve physical activity through built environment.
The Health Care Foundation continues to champion the efforts of grantees and community partners that afford everyone opportunities to improve their quality of life.
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HCF's Local Health Buzz Blog aims to discuss health and health policy issues that impact the uninsured and underserved in our service area. To submit a blog, please contact HCF Communications Officers, Jennifer Sykes, at jsykes@hcfgkc.org.
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About Bridget's Blog
Bridget McCandless, MD, MBA, FACP, HCF President/CEO
Bridget McCandless is the President/CEO of the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City and is a Board Certified Internal Medicine Specialist with an interest in chronic disease management and poverty medicine. She shares her thoughts and perspectives on health and policy issues that impact the health of the community as a whole.
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