Focus Area: Community

This project, WeRISE Community Doula Program, aimed to transform the African American Breastfeeding Network’s pilot program into a sustainable community-based model of care for Black families. In Milwaukee, Black infant mortality rates are three times higher than white infant mortality rates, and maternal mortality rates are five times higher for Black women than white women in Wisconsin. The project made significant progress toward its goal by increasing program awareness at both the community and state levels and by forming partnerships with various organizations. The WeRISE doula program supported 65 pregnant individuals providing support and care through the prenatal, delivery and postpartum periods. Survey feedback demonstrated high levels of satisfaction and the program’s positive impact in reducing anxiety related to pregnancy and labor.

This project, led by Today Not Tomorrow, Inc., aimed to sustain access to low and no-cost doula services, implement Harambee Birth and Family Center services for autonomous care options for Black families and finalize accreditation for a midwifery school to train six BIPOC midwives. Historically, midwives, similar to today’s doulas, played a crucial role in pregnancy care, but their contributions were marginalized with the rise of the medical profession, diminishing community-based midwifery and Indigenous birth practices. As a result of this project, the Harambee Birth and Family Center expanded their services with community-based doulas, scholarships for BIPOC doulas, and improved lactation support. Their integrated care model and new partnerships aimed at doula training marked significant progress, and the first cohort of doulas advanced into their second year of training and clinical preceptorship.

Rock County Public Health Department (RCPHD) is partnering with Rock & Walworth County Comprehensive Family Services, Inc. Early HeadStart, Harambee Village Doulas, and Dean Health Plan/SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital of Janesville to strengthen community support for pregnant Black women and Black families. With this initiative, RCPHD will conduct a comprehensive needs assessment, expand doula services through building an apprenticeship pipeline and execute an educational campaign to increase awareness about the impact of racism and its chronic stress on Black mothers and the value of doula support.

The structural and cultural forces that shape health are the result of decisions made by those in positions of relative power. To help members build their networks of relationships and develop their understanding of how to use power and move projects forward in their communities, the Lussier Community Education Center (LCEC) and Goodman Community Center formed the Neighborhood Organizing Institute (NOI) in 2015. NOI was a 12-month cohort-based training and support program that provides local, grassroots, low-income organizers with skills to make change in their own Madison neighborhoods and communities. This project, Neighborhood Organizing Institute 2.0 (NOI 2.0) was created to catalyze increased and sustained action by building long-term peer and institutional support for organizers’ work. NOI 2.0 was successful in building a leadership council that led organizer workshops, retreats and summits which provided opportunities for organizers to build relationships. The project team also worked with partners to compile research supporting the impact of organizing approaches which was shared with individuals from nine local funding sources.

This grant will support the development of an adolescent health stakeholder group in Racine that aims to reduce sexually transmitted diseases and infection in teens and teach leadership skills to support adolescent healthy lifestyles. Teen stakeholders will gather information, identify needs and share resources to ensure the community is receiving optimal care related to sexual health and teen pregnancy.

This project will create a smartphone application to address the increasing demand from veterans for non-clinical, peer-based mental health services. DigitalFOB will offer a secure, confidential space in which veterans and family members can connect virtually with other veterans and family members.

Early childhood presents a unique developmental window of opportunity to set a trajectory for a lifetime, and in one’s earliest years, more than one million neural connections are made every second. Experiences in early childhood, whether positive or negative, have significant impacts that last a lifetime. Supporting Families Together (SFTA) created a Parent Leadership cohort with parents who were part of SFTA’s Parent Café project, a project that was meant to create places where parents and caregivers can come together with others in similar situations to learn from and support one another. The parents volunteered to serve in a leadership capacity as part of their local Parent Café team. As part of this cohort, the Parent Leaders participated in a year-long learning process so they would be able to lead the design of community-based supports aimed to address the health inequities associated with ACEs. These inequities are grounded in income and racial disparities, causing those affected to be more likely to have two or more ACEs than their peers, which is correlated with more health risk factors and negative outcomes. They also worked towards building protective factors, which are characteristics at the biological, psychological, family, or community level that reduce the negative impact of a risk factor on problem outcomes, as a community-based support. Some examples of protective factors include social connectedness, concrete supports, and parental resilience. The outcomes exceeded what the grantees had originally intended to accomplish with this project. The Parent Leaders were actively engaged throughout the entire process and requested the cohort to continue beyond the scope of this project as they are still eager to learn more and stay connected.

In Wisconsin, Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender Nonconforming (TNG) people face significant barriers to accessing knowledgeable, quality healthcare, contributing to health inequities that include higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. This project sought to improve both the physical and mental health of Wisconsin’s TNG populations by improving access to healthcare through the creation of a provider directory that links TNG patients to knowledgeable, inclusive healthcare providers.

The goal of this project was to implement policies and create system-level changes to reduce the burden of alcohol abuse in Ashland and Bayfield counties. The total annual economic cost of excessive alcohol use in Ashland County is $22.1 million, and $15 million in Bayfield County. Binge drinking is responsible for 76 percent of the economic cost of excessive alcohol consumption and, in 2014, excessive alcohol consumption in Bayfield County caused at least 115 alcohol-related hospitalizations and 210 alcohol related hospitalizations in Ashland County. In this project, Bayfield and Ashland counties worked in partnership to address the harmful effects of alcohol abuse and misuse. A toolkit consisting of an infographic handout, PowerPoint presentation, and additional resources (ex. signage) was created, reviewed, revised, and professionally printed. It was marketed to community stakeholders in the project area via town hall and community coalition meetings. The grantees saw in northern Wisconsin – particularly in Bayfield County – local changes surrounding alcohol and festivities, including gradual, small changes in policies at local festivals that are creating a safe environment when alcohol is served. There has been an increase locally of thoughtful planning of events involving alcohol, including mandatory carding of attendees, implementing wristbands for those ages 21 and over, and increased availability of non-alcoholic drinks at events.

This project, led by Bread of Healing Clinic (BOHC), aimed to address and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on low-income people of color who are uninsured. Early COVID-19 reports revealed significant disparities in its impact, like in Milwaukee where 73 percent of those dying from the virus were African Americans who comprised only 26 percent of the population. For low-income uninsured adults with chronic health conditions, access to ongoing health care, behavioral health care, medications and support in accessing community resources were major factors in managing health and COVID-19 risk. This project made significant strides in addressing the health care needs of uninsured adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. A telehealth model engaged 14 physicians and facilitated 517 telehealth visits, including specialized care in areas such as nutrition, dermatology and psychiatry. BOHC leveraged tools like Google Suite and “My Health Direct” to enhance data collection, revealing needs in primary and specialty care, diagnostic testing, insurance assistance and housing support. Finally, the project successfully connected 50 patients to free clinics and disseminated COVID-19 safety measures to approximately 1,800 individuals through a number of outreach efforts.