At present, I’m happy to announce the winners of the Beacon Journal’s Well being Disparities Challenge.
In November, I launched the Well being Disparities Challenge and shared some real-life stories from people in our community about how racism has played a role in their lives and affected their health.
The phrases “racism is a public well being disaster” grew to become a brand new lexicon as protests occurred domestically and nationwide in opposition to police brutality and structural and systemic racism following George Floyd’s loss of life this summer time.
Native and regional governments, college boards and nonprofits handed proclamations in search of to determine potential options to the ways in which racism negatively impacts the lives of individuals of shade, from housing and redlining to instructional alternatives and medical insurance being tied to employment.
Together with sharing real-life tales, I also had a column explaining how I was taking $3,000 that I received as part of a health-reporting grant from Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions and paying it forward.
We invited grassroot teams or people in Summit County which might be working to be a part of the answer to deal with racism as a public well being disaster to use for considered one of three awards for $1,000 every.
A various group of neighborhood judges reviewed the functions submitted and selected three winners.
The winners are:
• The Bridges Program, an initiative of Desires Academy. This program stemmed from the Akron Neighborhood Basis’s “On the Desk” occasion in 2019 through which Desires Academy hosted a dialog about race. Desires Academy shall be engaged on a program to have highschool college students talk about, educate and inform college students about key subjects equivalent to implicit bias, system racism and the way racism exists in schooling.
• F3, a peer-led boot camp type exercise for males throughout the nation. The three F’s stand for Health, Fellowship and Religion. An current F3 group in Copley shall be working to increase and begin one other group to encourage extra range and frank discussions about race whereas specializing in health and religion.
• Proyecto RAICES, a program that has been serving the Hispanic/Latino youth in Akron for greater than 15 years, will work with Northeast Ohio Medical College college students on a program to show via on-line bilingual cooking demonstrations tips on how to modify current favourite meals with substances which might be more healthy, however nonetheless tasty.
“I communicate for all the judges in saying that we had been honored to be requested to take part,” stated Marty Hauser, who chaired the group. Hauser is the retired longtime SummaCare CEO who’s energetic within the Akron neighborhood and now vice chairman of strategic accounts for ExactCare.
“We had been impressed by the distinctive and revolutionary packages described within the functions and congratulate the three recipients. We additionally need to acknowledge and thank all the candidates for the work they’re doing day by day in our neighborhood to deal with this essential problem,” Hauser stated.
As we rolled out the venture, an excellent factor occurred: Community members reached out and asked if they could add money to the award pot. It would be their way of helping to solve the problem by helping local groups.
The Beacon Journal and the judges determined to take the extra donations from the neighborhood for the venture, which in December had been a bit of greater than $6,000, and open a second spherical of functions. This provides extra teams a chance to use; earlier candidates additionally had been inspired to re-apply.
Large thanks goes to my panel of 5 judges, who evaluated the primary spherical of functions and have agreed to proceed for the second spherical.
Along with Hauser, they’re:
• Robert DeJournett: Previously system director of neighborhood relations and variety for Summa Well being, now vice chairman of alternative and inclusion for the Higher Akron Chamber.
• Donna Delgado: Senior strategist of digital advertising and marketing for Summa Well being and graduate of Management Akron’s Variety on Board.
• Dr. Amy Lee: Northeast Ohio Medical College professor of household and neighborhood medication and program director for the Consortium of Jap Ohio Grasp of Public Well being program. Additionally board chair of Asian Companies in Motion Inc. (ASIA Inc.) in Akron.
• Shaleeta Smith: Supervisor of maternal-child well being with Summit County Public Well being. Additionally serves as vice chairman of the Akron City League Younger Professionals. She is a 2020 recipient of the Higher Akron Chamber “30 for the Future” award.
Look ahead to characteristic tales within the coming month or so about our first spherical of winners and extra particulars in regards to the subsequent spherical of functions.
Beacon Journal workers reporter Betty Lin-Fisher may be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Observe her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.fb.com/BettyLinFisherABJ To see her most up-to-date tales and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher
