Project Title
Building Healthy Communities Conference Scholarship
Grant Amount
$3,738
Priority Area
Other
Date Awarded
May 31, 2017
Region
Outside New York State
Status
Closed
Website
A key goal of NYHealth’s Building Healthy Communities priority area is to create healthy communities that lead to more New Yorkers of all ages eating healthy foods, being physically active, and having access to a range of programs that encourage healthy life choices.
Many organizations across the State are doing smart, innovative work that is relevant to NYHealth’s work to improve health in New York neighborhoods. These organizations should be elevating their work and informing key stakeholders at conferences and other convenings in New York and nationally. Yet, because of a lack of resources, they are often unable to do so. To address this issue, NYHealth awareded grants through its Sponsoring Conference Participation in Support of Healthy Communities Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, NYHealth sponsored community-based organizations, health departments, and other low-resource organizations to attend and present at local, State, and national conferences related to building healthy communities. In 2017, NYHealth awarded the American Farmland Trust a grant to participate in this initiative.
With NYHealth funding, American Farmland Trust sent two New York State school district teams and two members of the Farm to Institution New York State planning committee to travel to the Vermont FEED Institute in Shelburne, Vermont. At the FEED Institute, each school team evaluated the Vermont curriculum and gained insights for their schools’ own farm-to-school action plans to increase awareness of and influence healthy food choices for students and their families. The trip also helped attendees develop plans for piloting a New York State-based Farm to School Institute in 2018.