The following bulletin includes information regarding the Well Connected Communities initiative for the week of November 23, 2020:
In this Edition
- Community Health Action Plans
- Youth Voice and Leadership
- PD and Coaching
- News, Research, and Resources from the Field
UPDATE Community Health Action Plans
- We encourage you to review your community’s Action Plan Feedback Summary with your partners and update your action plan as needed. As your efforts continue, the PD team is happy to connect to provide guidance and learn from you about the ways in which your goal connects to policies and systems in community. UPDATE: Please plan to email your updated action plan to Shay McNeil at smcneil@fourhcouncil.edu by November 30, 2020.
We will be coordinating some peer-to-peer cohort learning sessions. Hayat Essa has been reaching out to determine availability and coordinate the sessions.
If you are interested in discussing the feedback or receiving additional support as you update your action plan, please contact Shay McNeil at smcneil@fourhcouncil.edu.
Youth Voice and Leadership
- National 4-H Summit for Health Living, February 12 – 15, 2021
- The National 4-H Summit on Healthy Living will be virtual and held on its usual Presidents’ Day Weekend, February 12 -15, 2021. The number of hours per day is still TBD but will last no more than approximately 4-5 hours on any one day.
- Cost is $75 per youth or adult.
- Registration will be open only during the month of January, 2021.
- There will be seven tracks which participants will stay in for the three workshop sessions; once a track is chosen, that’s where you stay:
- Food Insecurity
- Health Equity
- Physical Fitness
- Substance Abuse
- Nutrition
- Mental Health
- Adult Track for professional development.
- Because of the tracks, there will be no limit on the number of registrations.
- Highlights of the Summit will include keynote and capnote speakers and a speaker of the day, virtual State Showcase, 3 workshops, career exploration, a virtual “Coffee House” for discussion of national health issues, action plan development, and lots of opportunities for networking.
- New for this year will be TBD follow-ups for pitching action plans in the “Dolphin Tank”, and following those action plans throughout the year to see the impact on communities.
- A detailed agenda will be available in mid-November.
- Opportunities for Collegiate Facilitators are available for those 4-H alums who are in college and attended at least one 4-H Healthy Living Summit. Applications are due November 20, 2020.
- National 4-H Summit on Healthy Living Request for Workshop Proposal
National 4-H Council invites you to submit a proposal to conduct a workshop for the virtual National 4-H Summit (N4-HS) on Healthy Living. The N4-HS on Healthy Living takes place February 13 – 16, 2021. Workshops provide youth with a place to gain information in specific subject areas to increase knowledge, inspire career paths and help them develop action plans to implement and create change/impact in their communities. These action plans enable youth and adults, working together powerfully, to share information and bring about positive health outcomes in their home states. Interested youth and adult teams have an opportunity to submit a proposal for the N4-HS on Healthy Living by:
Proposal submission deadline: December 4, 2020
Target audience: Youth in grades 9–12
Workshop timeframe: 45-minute
Workshop participant size: Average of 20 – 30 participants
Workshop criteria: High level of hands-on, given the virtual format and include a career component, if feasible.
Submitting a Proposal
Workshops will be conducted via tracks in 2021. The planned tracks are below. Please be sure to indicate which subject matter area you are covering in your proposal.
- Food Insecurity
- Health Equity
- Mental Health
- Nutrition
- Physical Fitness
- Substance Abuse
Proposal Selection
Proposal application is attached. Proposals will be scored by the Summit Workshop Review Team and you will be contacted by December 18, 2020.
For Questions Please Contact:
Justin Crowe
Summit Coordinator
jcrowe3@utk.edu
865-974-2128
PD and Coaching
- WE WIN Together Racial Justice Community
WCC is partnering with 100 Million Lives to lead the work on racial justice. WE WIN Together Racial Justice Community provides space for communities, organizations, and coalitions to learn with one another. Together, communities reflect and take action to address racism in relationships and in structures and systems. Register at https://winnetwork.org/communities-1 to participate.
Top 3 reasons to join:
- Develop identity, voice and skills to advance racial justice.
- Share ideas and solve problems together as part of a community dedicated to this.
- Learn to tackle racism at multiple levels to create structural and systemic change.
News, Research and Resources from the Field:
The report analyzes the legacy of federal leadership for rural development, which has resulted in a fragmented and confusing landscape that is in urgent need of updating and modernizing to help rural areas successfully respond to the current moment. Federal programs must change significantly to better reflect the diversity, entrepreneurialism, and unique opportunities in rural communities.
KEY FINDINGS:
- Over 400 federal programs are open to rural areas for community and economic development, spanning 13 departments, 10 agencies, and over 50 offices and sub-agencies. A total of 14 legislative committees have jurisdiction over their authorizing legislation.
- A subset of 93 programs exclusively targeted to rural areas made $2.58 billion available in non-loan assistance in fiscal year 2019 (just 0.2 percent of federal discretionary spending).
- The ratio of loan authority to grant spending for rural development in FY2019 was nearly 15:1, underscoring the lack of flexible grant funding available to rural communities.
- Even when they are eligible for community and economic development assistance, rural communities are often locked out by spending formulas, eligibility requirements, and performance measures that implicitly privilege large, densely populated metros.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Launch a new development corporation, to invest in local vision and leadership through long-term block grants and innovative financing tools that give communities a fighting chance to strengthen and renew their local economies.
- Create a national rural strategy, elevate White House and interagency leadership, and undertake a set of specific and targeted reforms that will greatly enhance federal coherence and effectiveness.
- Appoint a bipartisan congressional commission to undertake a top-to-bottom review and build political momentum to transform federal rural policy.
The “widening rural-urban divide” is squarely in the headlines again—despite the fact that 2020 has caused us to reexamine everything and to challenge longstanding inequities. It’s time to build a more comprehensive equity analysis. Take a minute to read this new thought piece: https://ampr.gs/3pJaNQ6
What’s good for rural communities and for communities of color is good for the nation as a whole. It’s time to build a more comprehensive equity analysis that accounts for economic, racial, health, as well as geographic inequities. Take a minute to read this new thought piece:https://ampr.gs/3pJaNQ6
by Jennifer Grizzard Ekzarkhov · November 19, 2020
The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health sets aside the third Thursday of every November to celebrate National Rural Health Day. National Rural Health Day is an opportunity to “Celebrate the Power of Rural” by honoring the selfless, community-minded, “can do” spirit that prevails in rural America, gives us a chance to bring to light the unique healthcare challenges that rural citizens face, and showcase the efforts of rural healthcare providers, State Offices of Rural Health and other rural stakeholders to address those challenges. (Learn more at www.powerofrural.org)
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET
Speakers: Kate Robb, MSPH, Crystal Dixon, MPH, MCHES, NBC-HWC, Donna Chavis, Donele Wilkins, Sacoby Wilson, PhD, MS and Michele Okoh, JD.
The final webinar in the APHA Advancing Racial Equity series will raise awareness of the ongoing impact of environmental racism on the health and well-being of Black, Indigenous and people of color in the U.S.
Presenters will:
- Address historic and systemic issues (e.g., redlining, toxic waste siting, zoning policies) that have disproportionally impacted BIPOC communities, including social, economic, and health implications of these practices.
- Discuss the importance of environmental justice initiatives to mitigate inequity and how public health professionals can address environmental racism.
- Present strategies and frameworks to address environmental racism, such as health-in-all-policies, just transition, and cumulative impacts policies to curtail future health disparities.
If you missed the Housing is a Human Right webinar, check out the recording, slides and transcript from this examination of structural racism in housing. See all of the Advancing Racial Equity webinars.
To forge new, data-driven avenues of opportunity for people of color, the new Racial Equity Analytics Lab delivers data for decision making, identifies patterns of structural racism, and cultivates collaboration and continuous learning for change agents.
- Planning Your Holidays During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- In this blog post NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins shares ways that millions of Americans, including his own family, will break with tradition this year to celebrate the holiday in ways that will help to keep us all safe and healthy.
- Please review and share CDC’s newly released considerations for Holiday Celebrations and Small Gatherings to help minimize risk and prevent the spread of COVID-19 including their Thanksgiving Tip Sheet and Considerations for Traveling During the Holidays.
Grants for communities without broadband access to provide residential and business broadband service and connect facilities such as police and fire stations, healthcare, libraries, and schools. Closing date: Dec 23, 2020.