Institute for Family Health Receives CDC Funding to Expand Bronx Health REACH Efforts
New York, NY (October 7, 2014) – The Institute for Family Health was awarded nearly $3,000,000 in funding over the next three years to advance its work as a part of the Bronx Health REACH Coalition. The award, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), supports the multi-sectoral, participatory Coalition of over 70 members that has successfully implemented evidence-based and community-informed interventions in a sustained effort to eliminate health disparities in chronic disease and related risk factors among residents of the Bronx.
Since 1999, the Institute has led the Coalition and will now leverage this history and expertise to launch Towards a Healthier Bronx (THB). This new initiative will use evidence-based policy, systems and environmental improvements to increase access to healthy food, healthy beverages and opportunities for physical activity for over 75% of the 675,215 residents residing in 12 high need zip codes in the south Bronx. These changes will be augmented by robust communications and evaluations strategies designed to foster sustained community engagement, document impact, and disseminate best practices. Charmaine Ruddock, MS, will continue to lead the implementation of these activities in her role as project director.
“We are thrilled that the CDC continues to invest in the Bronx Health REACH initiative,” said Dr. Neil Calman, president and CEO of the Institute for Family Health. “The Institute is committed to addressing and eliminating health disparities, and this funding allows us to get closer to achieving this goal by improving access to healthy environments in the communities we serve.”
The Institute-led Bronx Health REACH Coalition, which includes dozens of public, non-profit and private sector partners, has a long history of using targeted, community‐based approaches that emphasize cultural preferences and responsiveness to local determinants of health to effect system-wide changes that promote health. Towards a Healthier Bronx will further address entrenched disparities in chronic disease and related risk factors through a broad, participatory and coordinated effort to increase access to healthy food and beverages, and opportunities for physical activity. The Coalition will achieve these goals in a number of ways including working with bodegas and farm stands to offer affordable healthy foods and working with schools to promote physical education and activity.
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Founded in 1983, the Institute for Family Health is a federally qualified community health center (FQHC) network that operates 27 health center sites in historically underserved communities in New York City and the Mid-Hudson Valley. The Institute’s health centers and other programs currently serve over 100,000 people annually. For more information about the Institute for Family Health, visit www.institute2000.org.
