Empowering communities through grassroots initiatives

Empowering communities through grassroots initiatives

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Contributor(s):
New York Health Foundation, issuing body.
Publication:
New York, NY : New York Health Foundation, March 2023
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Access to Healthy Foods
Community Networks
Community Resources
Fund Raising
Parks, Recreational
New York
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Evidence shows that an individual’s ZIP code has a greater impact on health than their genetic code. It also shows that the path to better health outcomes is not found in the doctor’s office, but rather, where people live, work, and play. In 2015, the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) launched Building Healthy Communities, a place-based initiative focused on investing in innovative, scalable approaches to help New Yorkers lead healthier lives by (1) increasing access to and consumption of healthy, affordable food and (2) expanding access to safe places to be physically active in six diverse neighborhoods throughout New York State. For a place-based initiative to be successful, we knew that we had to work in tandem with community leaders. Tapping into the knowledge that community leaders and residents have is a vital component of solving local problems. While policymakers can create large scale change in communities, they may not be tapped into hyperlocal needs--for instance, that a dangerous intersection discourages walking, or that local students are motivated to transform a vacant lot next to a school into a teaching garden. When residents implement their own solutions, they build community participation, neighborhood cohesion, and long-term stewardship. However, ideas from resident leaders and small grassroots groups have traditionally been an underfunded, overlooked source of fast, inexpensive solutions to a number of interconnected challenges to building healthy communities. ioby (an acronym for “in our backyards”--the positive opposite of NIMBY, “not in my backyard”) is a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Brooklyn with project leaders in more than 150 cities across the United States. ioby deepens community engagement by connecting ideas to create change with the resources to make it happen. ioby provides individuals who want to lead service projects in their neighborhoods with an online crowdfunding platform, paired with one-on-one fundraising coaching. In 2016, NYHealth awarded a grant to ioby to provide the resources for resident leaders to tackle some of their most pressing community health concerns. The ioby team used its innovative model of mobilization to spur neighborhood-level action in nine communities across New York State: the six NYHealth Building Healthy Communities neighborhoods and the three Healthy and Livable Neighborhoods sites in the South Bronx funded by the New York Community Trust. ioby recruited project leaders interested in improving access to food and nutrition education, creating opportunities for physical activity in safe public spaces, and fostering community engagement; trained them on crowdfunding best practices; supported their campaigns; and managed money disbursement and data collection. Over the course of four grants, NYHealth invested a total of $546,000, most of which was used to leverage $476,106 in citizen philanthropy through a 1:1 matching campaign--that’s $1 in funding provided for every $1 raised through crowdfunding.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (8 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
9918626086606676 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918626086606676