Building Healthy Communities

Grantee Name

Rapid Results Institute, Inc.

Funding Area

Building Healthy Communities

Publication Date

March 2017

Grant Amount

$73,513

Grant Date:

March 2015 – December 2015

NYHealth launched the Healthy Neighborhoods Fund initiative to help New York State communities become healthier and more active places.

Although all the communities are working toward the common goal of improving the health of their residents, each community may face particular challenges. In response, NYHealth is supporting these communities with more specialized technical assistance (TA) to help them meet their goals.

In 2015, NYHealth awarded a grant to the Rapid Results Institute (RRI) to provide TA to the Clinton County Health Department (CCHD) to increase physical activity among its residents. Under this grant, RRI worked with CCHD on implementing RRI’s 100-day challenge plan, a methodology that challenges organizations to achieve radically ambitious yet tangible and measurable goals in 100 days. CCHD’s goal was to increase participation in senior walking programs by 300% and increase new participation by youth in physical activity programs by 50%.

Outcomes and Lessons Learned

  • Achieved CCHD’s goals to increase participation in both its senior walking programs and youth physical activity programs ahead of the 100-day deadline;
  • Created a social media campaign to promote public awareness of CCHD’s physical activity programs;
  • Assisted CCHD to create a new culture of work that focuses on innovation and efficiency; and
  • Helped CCHD secure strategic partnerships with other county agencies and community-based organizations for continued collaboration.

Although RRI successfully led CCHD on the 100-day challenge, CCHD learned that undertaking a new culture of work can be difficult and slow. Specifically, there was a lack of support from key decision-makers within CCHD and its partners, which lessened opportunities to share the project’s accomplishments and gain backing for project sustainability and scaling strategies. However, RRI worked with CCHD staff to effectively reach out to these leaders for support in the future.

Co-Funding and Additional Funds Leveraged: N/A