Communities in Action

In Toledo, OH, the United Way of Greater Toledo had an “ah-ha” moment in 2010 when the County Health Rankings were released and Lucas County, where Toledo is located, ranked 72nd out of 88 Ohio counties. “This was incredibly alarming and created a sense of urgency in our community to mobilize,” said Kate Sommerfeld, former Area Director with United...

In the spring of 2013, the Maryland legislature passed an unprecedented $1.1 billion financing plan to rebuild and renovate Baltimore schools. Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development (BUILD) organized with Child First (a school-based organizing initiative founded by BUILD), Maryland Industrial Areas Foundation (MD IAF) and the Baltimore Education Coalition (BEC) to rally the community...

First-time parents can always use some extra support, and in Clinton County, Iowa, that support is aimed at creating successful families right from the start. Clinton County is rolling out the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program, an initiative that pairs nurses with new mothers to provide more than just medical care. The nurses...

A presentation at the April 2013 Together We Can summit created the spark for a garden at Larson Elementary School in Harrison, Michigan. The principal, Julie Rosencrantz, knew that many kids in the school didn’t have access to the fresh fruits and vegetables they need to be healthy and saw a garden as an opportunity to change that. By June, kids were eating the fruits and vegetables they had...

Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) works to improve the well-being of Kentucky’s children, using research, communication, and partnerships to educate decision makers and advocate for policies to keep children and families healthy, safe, and secure. Looking for opportunities to combat the dual problems of poor health and poverty in their state, KYA chose to pursue...

In 2012, WISDOM—a faith-based organization that includes representation from 145 congregations and 19 different religious traditions across Wisconsin—and its partners launched the 11 X 15 Campaign for Justice. The 11 x 15 Campaign has the vision of reducing Wisconsin’s prison population from 23,000 to 11,000 by 2015 by promoting...

Faced with widespread poverty in their rural county, a group of concerned citizens in Burnett County, Wisconsin, came together and formed Citizens Against Poverty (CAP). Many of the folks in the county were struggling to make ends meet; this had been the case, for some, for generations. Faced with the daunting task of tackling cyclical, generational poverty, the CAP taskforce began a...

The North Carolina Alliance for Health’s mission is to advocate for policies that promote wellness and reduce the state’s incidence of tobacco use and obesity. Its first focus was to advocate for an increase in the state’s cigarette tax, and when that was accomplished in 2005, it turned its focus to smoke-free...

When Kids Depot Childcare in Madison, Wisconsin, wanted to help kids be more active, they set an ambitious goal: two hours of physical activity every day. Teachers weren’t sure it could be done, but through Active Early, they learned how...

The North Carolina Alliance for Health’s mission is to advocate for policies that promote wellness and to reduce the state’s incidence of tobacco use and obesity. It was one of the driving forces behind the passage of North Carolina’s smoke-free bars and restaurants law. Pam Seamans jumped on board as the coalition...