WakeUP Receives Community Health Grant from the American Heart Association & BCBSNC
We’re excited to announce today that WakeUP Wake County has been awarded a community health mini grant by the American Heart Association and Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC!
In addition to WakeUP, other local recipients include Durham County Department of Public Health, Farmer Foodshare, Holly Springs Food Cupboard, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School, SEEDS, Shepherds Care Medical Clinic, Hope Center at Pullen.
Congratulations to all the recipients. We’re so proud to be included alongside such wonderful organizations!
Funding to Support New Programming
As our region continues to deal with the public health and economic crisis of COVID-19, we’re planning to use the funds from this grant to support a new program we’re calling the Community Health and Resilience program (or CHAR, for short). The goal of this new program will be to build healthier, more sustainable communities for Wake County’s most vulnerable residents, including the elderly and other groups at heightened risk of disease.
As recent events have shown, this work has never been more important than it is now!
Although Wake County ranks as the healthiest county in North Carolina, there is substantial variability in the region with respect to vulnerability and risk factors to disease, including heart disease. Eastern and southeastern parts of Wake County exhibit the highest rates of vulnerability — as measured by social determinants of health — due partly to generally lower incomes, higher rates of poverty, greater housing insecurity, and lack of access to transit and active modes of transportation.
Health inequalities are further exacerbated by new development, which continues to follow a pattern of unsustainable sprawl. According to Wake County’s 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment, nearly 80% of Wake County’s workforce drives to work alone each day in private cars, with the highest concentrations of residents driving alone to work in the east (83.5%). Moreover, daily commutes are getting longer. A third of the workforce spends more than 30 minutes each day commuting to work by car, which represents a 2% increase over the previous five-year period.
The goal of the CHAR is to enhance community engagement, health, and resilience throughout Wake County and reduce health disparities through a one-year program combining education, outreach, and grassroots advocacy on issues of sustainable growth planning generally and active transportation, such as biking and walking, specifically.
Research shows that transit is an effective tool for promoting health and reducing health disparities. Transit use is associated with increased levels of physical activity and reduction in weight and Body Mass Index (BMI). Furthermore, compared to those who drive to work each day, transit users spend 30 percent more time walking. Transit users are also over four times more likely to reach the recommended goal of 10,000 steps per day.
The time to act on innovative forms of transportation in Wake County is now, especially given that COVID-related lockdowns have given us all a taste of what the future might be like with reduced traffic, reduced air pollution, and reduced carbon emissions.
Again, thank you to the American Heart Association and Blue Cross, Blue Shield of North Carolina. We’re excited to get to work to build stronger, more sustainable, and healthier communities!
And don’t forget — YOU TOO can support us as we get started on this new work! CLICK HERE to make a one-time donation to WakeUP or to learn about becoming a sustainability partner.