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Health
We are celebrating significant investments to address racial disparities in maternal and child health. The National Institutes of Health announced it’s establishing the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence in three areas where WKKF supports significant work. The centers will help address pregnancy-related complications and deaths across race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geography. WKKF partners in Michigan, Mississippi and New Orleans are among 10 organizations that will work with community collaborators and support training and professional development of maternal health researchers, including those from backgrounds underrepresented in the biomedical research workforce.
The Center for Health Equity, Education, & Research (CHEER) at Boston Medical Center received $6 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support a hospital-based quality improvement collaborative. The funding will enhance maternity-care practices supportive of breastfeeding, with a goal of decreasing racial inequities in hospital breastfeeding rates. CHEER will expand its CHAMPS (Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices) model to enroll 100 hospitals nationwide, building off our support of CHAMPS in Mississippi, which is ranked No. 2 nationally for the number of birthing hospitals designated as Baby-Friendly in the state.
New Mexico
The rise of devastating climate events is taking a toll on children’s health. A new report from WKKF grantee New Mexico Voices for Children outlines the climate impacts that extreme heat, drought, flooding, wildfires and poor air quality will have on children. The brief identifies actions New Mexico is taking, as well as policies still needed to protect children from severe health issues.
Food Systems
Three Sisters Kitchen continues growing their Local Food Campus in downtown Albuquerque. They recently added another element – the Grower’s Market – where farmers are joining this food campus along with chefs and mobile eateries. Visitors can buy fresh fruits and vegetables straight from local farmers while enjoying some delicious food from many chefs and supporting a food-systems economy. The Local Food Campus will provide 45 new living-wage jobs, new manufacturing businesses, opportunities for entrepreneurs, a year-round farmers market and shop, teaching/manufacturing kitchens, a café and event space and classrooms for food and nutrition education.
Michigan
WKKF grantee Detroit Black Community Food Security Network (DBCFSN) is gearing up to open Detroit People’s Food Co-op, a Black-led, community-owned grocery store, café, vendor space, incubator kitchens and community event space. The project will help DBCFSN build self-reliance, food sovereignty and justice in Detroit’s Black community by increasing access to affordable, healthy and culturally relevant foods.
Haiti
An article in the Boston Globe describes the grim state of insecurity gripping much of Haiti today. It also highlights health care organizations that are finding ways to perform their critical work despite the challenges. WKKF grantee Build Health International (BHI) continues constructing and improving on medical infrastructure for fellow grantees Partners in Health (PIH) and Health Equity International. Currently, it is expanding a solar-power system at PIH’s Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais. “We have no intention of scaling back or stopping our work in Haiti,” BHI’s Sarah Sceery told the Globe.