Environments

Faith/Move

Faith-Based and Other Community Organizations, Move more

Best Practice Strategies:

The Middle Peninsula-Northern Neck (MPNN) Community Service Board (CSB) and MPNN Healthy Community Action Team (HCAT) collectively include representation from Parks and Recreation, Boys and Girls Clubs, Preschools, Private Recreational Facilities, Churches, Farmer’s Market, Healthcare, and more. This diverse group of community members conducted a local needs assessment that revealed a need for increased availability and access to free or low cost recreational activities for families and youth. In addition to annual events like Celebrate Healthy Living Day, the MPNN CSB and HCAT effectively collaborated with schools to develop recreational facility agreements that expand facility hours for families to use outside of business hours. In addition to parents, the increased access to recreational space allowed local youth-serving organizations to also use the space for enhancing and adding physical activities for the youth that they serve.

Lessons Learned: Tips for Partnership

MPNN’s CSB and HCAT identified that a primary challenge they encounter is to inspire, engage and maintain key collaborative community partnerships. They address this by regularly expressing gratitude and appreciation to partners, requiring that initiatives be evidence-based, and by maintaining clear communication and project objectives.

Agency Partner:

Middle Peninsula Northern Neck

Testimonials

“Youth serving organization leadership has shared with us that parents comment regularly about their children showing more interest in eating fresh fruits and vegetables and in engaging in physical activity ”

Cheryl Matteo-Kerney, Director, MPNN CSB Prevention, Health and Wellness Division , on the results of expanding the hours of school recreational facilities

Local Government/Fruit Veggies

Eating Fruits & Veggies, Local Government

Best Practice Strategies:

The Fairfax Food Council’s (FFC) elevated their partnerships in the Bailey’s Crossroads community to increase access to a farm share subscription program for SNAP/EBT recipients and/or families with children in the Free/Reduced Lunch Program, implemented cooking demonstrations, and more. During this work the FFC uncovered zoning ordinances that made food access initiatives challenging in the communities they were aiming to reach. To address this issue the FFC established a zoning committee to work with the Fairfax County Planning Department in order to provide recommendations to produce a revised county code, expected to be effective in June 2019. This collaboration amplifies the value of community organizations working with local government to enact sustainable change in their localities.

Lessons Learned

While the FCC operates successfully with partners from all sectors in the county; non-profits, businesses, government, and faith-based organizations, the coalition has learned to adopt the practice of inviting community members to participate and influence the conversation about solutions to food access and nutritional barriers. This contributes to the FCC’s collective understanding that the full impact of these efforts is only realized when those affected have ownership and actively participate in the process.

Agency Partner:

Fairfax Food Council

Testimonials

“The Fairfax Food Council understand that change cannot be imposed on communities, but rather needs to be built from within.”

Terri Siggins, Project Manager, on how understanding the perspective of what individuals living in poverty and dealing with food insecurity experience is critical in this kind of work.

RVA Breast Feed

Breastfeeding, Local Government

Best Practice Strategies:

Cross-sector collaboration and strategic planning is a critical component of the #RVABreastfeeds Coalition. At the 2017 Breastfeeding Symposium in Richmond, VA dialogue centered around the impact of systemic racism on breastfeeding with citizens, health care providers, and policy makers. RVAbreastfeeds recognizes that it is critical that our community’s care providers and institutions understand how unconscious biases and policies may be impacting the people they are serving. For years, this coalition has worked to develop a strong network of citizens and organizations that are committed to social change. This culminated in 2018 with the Mayoral Proclamation of Black Breastfeeding Week RVA occurring annually August 25-31. This proclamation included a call to action for local hospitals, businesses, and agencies to work together to deliver consistent information and provide equitable resources to ensure successful breastfeeding initiation and duration for all mothers and infants, especially the most historically underserved populations.

Important and Unexpected Partnerships

RVABreastfeeds has recently built connections with local food justice activists—after all, food deserts are also likely to be “First Food Deserts,” where access to lactation support is missing too. These partnerships emphasize the understanding that there is a natural progression from supporting families’ ability to provide the best “First Food,” breastmilk, for their babies, to supporting the best “Next Foods,”—fresh, locally sourced fruits and vegetables.

Agency Partner:

RVABreastFeeds

Testimonials

“It’s almost like  magic when you get people problem solving together from different sectors. I am pretty sure we have a couple of hundred more breastfeeding advocates in our community than we did a few years ago.”

Leslie Lytle, Executive Director of Nurture, on valuable collaboration and community outreach efforts that RVABreastfeeds has implemented

Plan School-K12/Empty Calories

Schools, Stop Eating Empty Calories

Best Practice Strategies:

In 2017 the Greater Richmond Coalition for Healthy Children partners collaborated with the community members and the Director of School Nutrition in Richmond Public Schools to begin the work of transforming the breakfast menu for all elementary school students. As of the 2018-19 school year, Richmond Public School Elementary students have more savory breakfast items to choose from, and a reduced selection of sugary items. Pop-tarts, donuts, and flavored milk were removed from the breakfast menu and have been replaced with boiled eggs, breakfast sandwiches, and more.

Collective Impact & Important Partnerships

As the coalition continues to build and launch their Parent Council, a group to empower and equip parents and community members to advocate for policies that reduce childhood obesity, they have found that collaboration with community groups to gather input on the curriculum, recruitment strategies and policy initiatives has been critical to have a long and lasting impact in Richmond.

Agency Partner:

Greater Richmond Coalition of Health Children

Testimonials

“Teachers have reported that students are ‘less hyper’ in class in the morning because they are getting less sugar—also, cafeteria staff are pleased to offer healthier items.”

Justine Blincoe, Policy Director at Fit4Kids, on the coalition’s initiative to reduce sugary items from the breakfast menu in Richmond Public Schools.

“Students love the new savory breakfast options, in fact boiled eggs have been more popular than even cereal!”

Justine Blincoe, Policy Director at Fit4Kids, on the coalition’s initiative to reduce sugary items from the breakfast menu in Richmond Public Schools.