Chair's Message - How You Can Contribute to CHPPD’s First Annual Community Action on October 29 in D.C.
 |
| Amy Carroll-Scott, Chair | As I hope you have already heard, this year the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section is attempting a bold new endeavor at the Annual Meeting – to mobilize our membership and its collective talents to reach out into a community in D.C. to move beyond talking about the social determinants of health in order to contribute to addressing them. The event will include a health fair and mural painting during a new community farmers market held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that serves the underserved neighborhoods of Wards 7 and 8.
We are collaborating with a local non-profit oroganization, Dreaming Out Loud (www.dreamoutloud.org), to support their mission to advance a more ethical world that allows underserved children, youth and families to thrive in the global community. Our other partners in this effort include the Howard University School of Medicine and Department of Architecture, Georgetown Medical Student Association, The Environment-CHPPD Section Build Environment Workgroup, and the Washington, D.C. Health Department. We are working hard to form lasting relationships with our partners so that we not only contribute that day, but also create some lasting new collaborations and dedicate D.C.-based members to some sustainable projects in the community.
My hope is that if this turns out to be a valuable experience for our members, we could plan a similar community action at each year’s Annual Meeting city. Besides providing a mechanism for contributing our members’ expertise to a local community while enriching our Annual meeting experience, it could allow us to better engage with local community-based organizations to broaden our networks and learn from and share best practices. It can also provide a focus for locally-based CHPPD members to become more engaged in CHPPD and to network with each other. I also hope that it can demonstrate to our members, local communities and partners, and the broader public health and political communities that through collaboration with local leaders, we can move beyond the theoretical discussion of health disparities and their social determinants, and together attempt to address them.
So how can YOU contribute to make this day a success?
-
Plan to arrive in D.C. a day early so you can join us from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday for the event. We will need your help that day to help set up and man the health fair, work on the mural and give the new farmers market your business while buying some delicious local produce to bring back to your hotel room!
-
Do you live or work in D.C.? Join our planning group. We can't do it without you! We welcome the contributions of anyone with experience in community health, mural projects, working with youth and neighborhood beautification, but consider this call to action for our D.C. colleagues.
-
Are you a good writer or data analyst? Contribute now to a brief community profile of Wards 7 or 8 using health and built environment data we have collected. This can be a powerful tool for advocacy we intend to share with local partners and residents.
-
Take the time to think about your and your colleagues' expertise and offer ideas for an activity at the health fair: health screenings, cooking demonstrations, physical activities, etc. We want to highlight important public health and community wellness messages while demonstrating the expertise of our members.
-
Become a Donor. Contribute to this event to ensure we have the resources we need to successfully implement our first annual community action!
If you want to get involved or have any questions, please contact our community action planning group leader, D.C.-based Michelle Johnson.
As always, for more information about upcoming Section teleconference calls, previous call minutes, and committee and workgroup activities and works-in-progress, please join CHPPD Insider wiki.
Yours in health,
Amy
Amy Carroll-Scott, PhD, MPH
Chair
|