Focus Area: Community

Children’s Service Society of Wisconsin is leading the project Marathon County Start Right; this project will expand a home visiting program with a bilingual Spanish-speaking home visitor to reach and serve more bilingual families, including those residing in rural Marathon County.

This grant ended on July 12, 2024. Lead exposure in children causes serious, adverse health outcomes including brain and nervous system damage and interference with growth, development, learning, behavior, hearing and speech. Racial inequities in lead poisoning persist in Wisconsin as African American children were lead poisoned at 3.5 times the rate of non-Hispanic white children. This project aims to reduce childhood lead poisoning and prenatal exposure to lead and advance health equity through three goals.

Marinette County (MC) is ranked among the least healthy counties in Wisconsin. The opioid-related hospital admission rate is higher in MC than the Northeast Wisconsin regional rate. Individuals with substance use disorders who are in recovery often have difficulty obtaining and maintaining employment due to gaps in work history, education, and lack of structure and support. This project aims to support individuals in recovery, as well as their employers, by connecting individuals with sustainable employment.

This project, led by YWCA Madison, Inc., aims to support citizens returning to their communities post-incarceration by providing technology skills, employment training and networking opportunities critical for achieving economic stability while fostering healing and dignity. Investing in individuals to create positive change in their lives and the lives of their families is at the heart of this effort. Providing access to long-term earning potential and career growth opportunities while addressing the diversity gap in the tech industry by helping to provide qualified candidates to area employers is a critical component of this grant. According to Healthpeople.gov, men and women with a history of incarceration are worse in mental and physical health than the general population. The added hardship and adversity created by COVID-19 and the country’s health crisis of racism adds to their health challenges. This grant will work to improve health and health equity for returning citizens by providing support as they transition to life back in their communities. The initiative will engage returning citizens in the YWeb training program, and incorporate restorative justice into its approach and process, to help support and heal individuals and families.

A grant to REAP Food Group increases the capacity of an innovative collaboration between REAP Food Group and Roots4Change Cooperative, a cooperative led by Latina and Indigenous women, to advance health equity by working with the food and healthcare systems to address individual and collective health and well-being in a holistic, culturally aligned way.

This project, Race to Equity Wisconsin, led by Kids Forward Inc. aimed to address racial and ethnic inequities in Wisconsin that were revealed in the 2013 Race to Equity Report. The report revealed that while white individuals in Wisconsin generally fare better than the national average, Black individuals and other communities of color in the state experience lower levels of well-being. This was particularly evident in areas like high school graduation rates, employment and incarceration statistics. The report underscored the need for collective action to address racial equity challenges and foster results-driven change. Kids Forward successfully replicated the Race to Equity model in Rock County, released a comprehensive report addressing disparities and initiated the development of the toolkit for other communities to replicate the model. Over 50 community meetings were conducted, and partnerships were established with Black, Latiné, Asian and ally-led organizations. The project also contributed to internal, local and state policy reforms and recommendations.

This project, Social Service Redesign, led by Sixteenth Street Community Health Center (SSCHC) aims to improve health outcomes by reducing housing insecurity. SSCHC is Milwaukee’s largest federally qualified health center and has been addressing the health needs of economically disadvantaged individuals, many of whom face housing issues and homelessness. In its first two years, the project established an AmeriCorps program with 13 members, including four resource navigators. Resource navigators and volunteers have contributed to a 44.5 percent increase in completed, totaling over 8,700 patients. Housing needs have persisted as a priority, leading to the implementation of an internal housing protocol.

Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers, the largest provider of outpatient behavioral health services for families requiring bilingual care in Milwaukee, will engage a youth advisory council and community partners in the testing and scaling of group treatment options for youth, as well as corresponding support groups for parents and guardians. By leveraging successful in-person groups, Sixteenth Street is uniquely situated to investigate the effectiveness of the virtual group therapy model for youth, for which there is currently limited supportive evidence.

Public Health Madison Dane County (PHMDC) leads the project Jardin de Espacios (Garden of Spaces): Designing Well-Being During the Perinatal Journey (Madison/Dane County); PHMDC will collaborate with Roots4Change Cooperative to develop culturally appropriate educational and perinatal services for Latino and Indigenous families.

The Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center is leading the project Native Parent Connection Program; this project will strengthen collaborations to address the needs of Native parents and families, or expectant parents through home visiting, breastfeeding supports, validated mental health screening tools, and parenting programs.