PRESS RELEASE
BUNCOMBE COUNTY’S PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY COUNCIL ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS OF THE AWARD DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE 2014 RWJF CULTURE OF HEALTH PRIZE
Buncombe County’s Collaborative Work to Close the Health Equity Gap Gains National Recognition
Asheville, North Carolina (October 7, 2014) Announced in June, Buncombe County is one of six winners of the 2014 Culture of Health Prize awarded annually by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in Princeton, New Jersey. The prize honors communities that are harnessing the collective power of leaders, partners, and stakeholders to help residents live healthier lives. Buncombe County received a cash prize of $25,000 in recognition of its commitment to building a Culture of Health. In an effort to leverage this prestigious national award for our community, Buncombe County’s Public Health Advisory Council chose to redistribute the prize money through a competitive, community-wide award process in order to support organizations working collaboratively to address health issues in Western North Carolina.
There’s more work to be done in Buncombe County, including improving access to healthy foods, increasing accessibility to physical activity, improving the health of future mothers, and assuring the positive, early development of every child in Buncombe County. However, the Prize gives us an opportunity to pause, reflect and celebrate what we have accomplished.
In spite of abundant challenges and complicated solutions to building a Culture of Health, we are making true, sustainable impact through collaborative efforts, like the initiatives chosen by Buncombe County’s Public Health Advisory Council to be supported by awards from the Culture of Health Prize funds. The collaborations that received awards will work to provide positive parenting education, encourage grassroots, youth-led programming for teens, support community gardens and the promotion of healthy eating, provide practical help with meal planning and a supportive community for homeless or newly housed individuals, enhance relationships among primary care providers and community partners using the Adverse Childhood Experience framework, drive tobacco cessation advocacy and development for teachers, and meals and training for at risk youth.
Just as our community came together to create a shared vision, this is a shared recognition. Key partners include the leadership of Public Health Advisory Council, the 70+ organizations that are participating in the Community Health Improvement Process, and the support and infrastructure of the Health and Human Services Board and staff. The organizations collaborating on these Culture of Health mini-award initiatives include:
Addiction, Recovery, and Prevention Services Asheville City Schools Preschool
Buncombe County Health and Human Services Innovative Approaches
Children First/Communities in Schools Eliada Homes, Inc.
Family Preservation Services
Gardens United
Goodwill Industries
Grand Father Home/Barium Springs Hall Fletcher Elementary School Haywood Street Congregation Homeward Bound
MAHEC
Mission Hospitals
Mission’s Nicotine Dependence Program
Mt Zion Community Development, Inc.
Planned Parenthood
Searchlight Consulting
The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) Triple P
Verner Center for Early Learning
WNC Rescue Ministries
YMCA of Western North Carolina
YWCA of Asheville
“We are pleased to have been chosen as a RWJF Culture of Health Prize community,” said Gibbie Harris, Health Director, Buncombe County Health and Human Services. “This work celebrates numerous cross-sectored, public/private partnerships and innovative community efforts to improve the health of our residents.”
“Just as our community came together to create a shared vision, this is a shared recognition,” said Paul Vest, CEO and President of YMCA of Western North Carolina. “It is a true testament to our focused and collaborative efforts to close the health equity gap.”
“The RWJF Culture of Health Prize winners are leading some of the nation’s most innovative efforts to build a national Culture of Health,” said Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, RWJF president and CEO. “These communities are inspiring examples of what is possible when all sectors work together so that every resident has the opportunity to live a long and healthy life.”
Buncombe County was among six communities selected from more than 250 prize applications across the country. The other winning communities are Brownsville, Texas; Durham County, North Carolina; Spokane County, Washington; Taos Pueblo Tribal Community, New Mexico and Williamson, West Virginia. Learn more about the RWJF Culture of Health Prize and watch a video profile of Buncombe County and the other prize winners at www.rwjf.org.
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Buncombe County Health and Human Services is the consolidated organization that oversees the Department of Health, Social Services, and Economic Services within Buncombe County government. The mission of the Buncombe County Health and Human Services is “to protect and promote the publics’ health and to assure through community partnerships that all people in Buncombe County have the opportunity to make healthy choices in a healthy environment.” For more information, visit www.buncombecounty.org.
About The YMCA of Western North Carolina
The YMCA of Western North Carolina is one of the area’s leading nonprofits strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. The Y currently serves Buncombe, Henderson and McDowell Counties with five Y Centers, 22 elementary age afterschool sites and five middle school age afterschool sites; engaging over 61,000 families, neighbors and children. Regardless of age, income or background our goal is to nurture the potential of children and teens, improve the area’s health and well-being, and provide opportunities to give back and support the community. Deeply anchored in Western North Carolina, the Y has a 125 year history of developing lasting personal and social change. For more information, visit www.ymcawnc.org.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve the health and health care of all Americans. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all Americans to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.
About Buncombe County Health and Human Services
About the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute is the focal point within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health to address questions of what it takes to improve health across the population. The Institute advances health and well-being for all by developing and promoting evidence-informed approaches to policy and practice at the local, state, and national levels. The Institute leads the work on the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps and manages the RWJF Culture of Health Prize. For more information, visit http://uwphi.pophealth.wisc.edu.
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