The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced the five communities selected to receive the 2019 RWJF Culture of Health Prize! These communities are working at the forefront of advancing health, opportunity, and equity for all through a shared commitment to investing in solutions and lasting change.
In 2019, RWJF received 183 applications for the prize. The 2019 winners are: Broward County, Florida; Gonzales, California; Greenville County, South Carolina; Lake County, Colorado; and Sitka, Alaska. Each of the winning communities will receive $25,000.
The Culture of Health Prize elevates the compelling stories of community members throughout the country who are working together in new ways so that everyone can live their healthiest life possible, regardless of who they are or how much money they make. According to RWJF, a "culture of health" recognizes that where we live—such as our access to affordable homes, quality schools, and reliable transportation—affects how long and how well we live. The Prize elevates the compelling stories of community members who are working together to transform neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and more—so that the opportunity for better health flourishes for all.
The prize recognizes and celebrates communities’ successes – what they already have achieved. The Prize is a cash award, and community partners can decide together how to use the funds to benefit the community. Based on their demonstrated capacity for and dedication to creating lasting change, representatives from winning communities will be expected to serve as ambassadors for building a Culture of Health across America – sharing their successes, learning from others, and networking locally, regionally, and nationally.
Below is the first installation of a series of spotlights on the communities selected for the 2019 RWJF prize, starting with Lake County, Colorado.
“In Lake County, there are so many resources available to build a healthy community,” says Katie Baldassar, executive director of Lake County Build a Generation, which coordinates the county’s health equity efforts. “But because of systemic inequities, those resources aren’t equally available to everyone.”
Recognizing the health equity challenge, the community has diligently worked to build a stronger relationship between grassroots activists in the Latinx community—a third of the county’s population—and “grasstops” nonprofits and government agencies. No matter the population or issue, the county uses a tried-and-true, ubiquitous formula: review data, engage many voices, make a plan, act on it together, measure success.
Winning the Culture of Health Prize offers even more validation for Lake County partners in their certainty that “the people of our community are entirely capable of figuring out what’s working and what needs to change to make Lake County a place where all community members—regardless of neighborhood, ethnicity, or income—can live our healthiest life,” says Baldassar.
Among the county’s collaborative efforts to promote health and well-being:
Get Outdoors Leadville!, or GOL!, aims to ensure all Lake County youth and families can experience the outdoors as a vehicle for healthy lifestyle choices, community connections and leadership opportunities. The initiative came to be through a highly collaborative, 16-month planning process that included outreach by youth and Spanish-speaking promotoras, or community liaisons, who gathered input from residents about barriers to heading outdoors, such as cultural exclusion, lack of gear, and transportation. GOL! works with schools to supplement the curriculum with outdoor learning and partners with other groups to improve the quality and accessibility of the county’s out-of-school-time programming. The group also engages directly with community members to support their independent outdoor activities.
Jackie Radilla coordinates GOL!’s library of gear and programming for youth and families. She insists GOL!’s partners be inclusive. “It’s not a community event” if it’s not marketed in Spanish as well as English, she says. She describes residents who feel newly welcome to the outdoors now that bilingual activities like family camping trips, hiking, and snowshoeing are available.
Sixteen agencies participate in the Interagency Oversight Group, which works to reduce duplication of services, eliminate fragmentation, maximize resources, and create shared outcomes. One of the group’s programs is Wraparound, which takes an evidence-based approach to coordinating care for children, youth, and families who are navigating multiple services or experiencing multiple types of difficulties, such as education, legal or mental health. Families create their own vision for the future, says program supervisor Gloria Perez.They select a team of professionals and community members from their support networks to help them identify their needs, design strategies to address those needs, and ultimately reach their vision.
“Our goal,” says Perez, “is to help families develop the skills and tools to meet their own needs and to overcome difficulties in the future.”
Resilient Lake County joins 15 organizations and agencies, as well as grassroots community activists, in an effort to reduce health inequities for low-income and Latinx residents. The partners—including the schools, the police and probation departments, GOL!, and Wraparound—have each undergone an assessment of how well they provide services that take people’s past experiences and trauma into account.
Read more on RWJF: A Community Moves Beyond the Boom and Bust
In 2019, RWJF received 183 applications for the prize. The 2019 winners are: Broward County, Florida; Gonzales, California; Greenville County, South Carolina; Lake County, Colorado; and Sitka, Alaska. Each of the winning communities will receive $25,000.
The Culture of Health Prize elevates the compelling stories of community members throughout the country who are working together in new ways so that everyone can live their healthiest life possible, regardless of who they are or how much money they make. According to RWJF, a "culture of health" recognizes that where we live—such as our access to affordable homes, quality schools, and reliable transportation—affects how long and how well we live. The Prize elevates the compelling stories of community members who are working together to transform neighborhoods, schools, businesses, and more—so that the opportunity for better health flourishes for all.
The prize recognizes and celebrates communities’ successes – what they already have achieved. The Prize is a cash award, and community partners can decide together how to use the funds to benefit the community. Based on their demonstrated capacity for and dedication to creating lasting change, representatives from winning communities will be expected to serve as ambassadors for building a Culture of Health across America – sharing their successes, learning from others, and networking locally, regionally, and nationally.
Below is the first installation of a series of spotlights on the communities selected for the 2019 RWJF prize, starting with Lake County, Colorado.
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| Lake County community activity Breyhan Reveles (left) with his Mom, Cristina |
Recognizing the health equity challenge, the community has diligently worked to build a stronger relationship between grassroots activists in the Latinx community—a third of the county’s population—and “grasstops” nonprofits and government agencies. No matter the population or issue, the county uses a tried-and-true, ubiquitous formula: review data, engage many voices, make a plan, act on it together, measure success.
Winning the Culture of Health Prize offers even more validation for Lake County partners in their certainty that “the people of our community are entirely capable of figuring out what’s working and what needs to change to make Lake County a place where all community members—regardless of neighborhood, ethnicity, or income—can live our healthiest life,” says Baldassar.
Among the county’s collaborative efforts to promote health and well-being:
Get Outdoors Leadville!, or GOL!, aims to ensure all Lake County youth and families can experience the outdoors as a vehicle for healthy lifestyle choices, community connections and leadership opportunities. The initiative came to be through a highly collaborative, 16-month planning process that included outreach by youth and Spanish-speaking promotoras, or community liaisons, who gathered input from residents about barriers to heading outdoors, such as cultural exclusion, lack of gear, and transportation. GOL! works with schools to supplement the curriculum with outdoor learning and partners with other groups to improve the quality and accessibility of the county’s out-of-school-time programming. The group also engages directly with community members to support their independent outdoor activities.
Jackie Radilla coordinates GOL!’s library of gear and programming for youth and families. She insists GOL!’s partners be inclusive. “It’s not a community event” if it’s not marketed in Spanish as well as English, she says. She describes residents who feel newly welcome to the outdoors now that bilingual activities like family camping trips, hiking, and snowshoeing are available.
Sixteen agencies participate in the Interagency Oversight Group, which works to reduce duplication of services, eliminate fragmentation, maximize resources, and create shared outcomes. One of the group’s programs is Wraparound, which takes an evidence-based approach to coordinating care for children, youth, and families who are navigating multiple services or experiencing multiple types of difficulties, such as education, legal or mental health. Families create their own vision for the future, says program supervisor Gloria Perez.They select a team of professionals and community members from their support networks to help them identify their needs, design strategies to address those needs, and ultimately reach their vision.
“Our goal,” says Perez, “is to help families develop the skills and tools to meet their own needs and to overcome difficulties in the future.”
Resilient Lake County joins 15 organizations and agencies, as well as grassroots community activists, in an effort to reduce health inequities for low-income and Latinx residents. The partners—including the schools, the police and probation departments, GOL!, and Wraparound—have each undergone an assessment of how well they provide services that take people’s past experiences and trauma into account.
Read more on RWJF: A Community Moves Beyond the Boom and Bust