Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative, Inc.

To tackle some of the underlying problems that have affected the health of communities, NYHealth launched the Healthy Neighborhoods Fund initiative to help New York State communities become healthier and more active places.

Through the Healthy Neighborhoods Fund, NYHealth is investing $2 million over two years to support six communities across the State in their efforts to increase access to healthy, affordable food; improve access to safe places where residents can exercise and be active; and connect children and adults to programs that support healthy behaviors. In 2015, NYHealth awarded Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative (the Collaborative) a grant to participate in this initiative. As part of a technical assistance grant to support the Collaborative in its efforts, NYHealth awarded it a grant in 2016 to define its communications priorities and develop a strategic communications plan.

Under this grant, the Collaborative worked with a communications firm to develop (1) clear external and internal communications goals that bolster the Collaborative’s overall strategic plan; (2) a creative strategy that elevates the Collaborative’s work and identifies overall and target audiences and appropriate communications vehicles and channels; (3) a timeline for various communications tactics; and (4) an evaluation framework to measure the plan’s progress.