October 9, 2020
As your partner in building healthy communities, NJHCN curates the most useful and current resources to help you and your organization build capacity, raise funds, network and learn.

All resources will also be posted on our website for ongoing reference. Please forward to colleagues, partners and friends who may benefit from this information. Subscribe.

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Grantee Spotlight
Montclair State University
Funder: Partners for Health Foundation
Montclair State University has increased food access for their campus community by harvesting and distributing fresh produce, canned food and other essentials at the Red Hawk Food Pantry. They have also conducted campus-wide food insecurity and walkability audits that will lead to proposing policies to improve health and safety on campus.

“As the second largest public university in the state, it is important for us to be able to anticipate the needs of our incoming student body, and we will be presenting this information to our Campus Hunger Task Force, created at the beginning of the year in response to identified emergent student food needs.”

Partners include: Red Hawk Food Pantry, Campus Community Garden, MSU Campus Hunger Task Force, MSU Office of Planning & Project Management, The University Police Department, Table to Table, PSEG Institute for Sustainable Studies and more.

Grants and Funding
Inclusive Healthy Communities Grant Program
Mandatory Applicant Webinar: October 13, 15, 19
Funder: Department of Human Services - Division of Disability Services
The Inclusive Healthy Communities (IHC) Grant Program is an initiative designed to provide funding opportunities to communities and organizations in New Jersey to promote inclusive practices that support the health and well-being of individuals with disabilities in the communities where they live.

Community Change Grant
Deadline: November 9
Funder: America Walks
America Walks and generous Active People, Health Nations partners are excited to announce another round of our popular Community Change Grant program. This program will award grantees $1,500.00 in community stipends for projects related to creating healthy, active, and engaged places to live, work, and play.  

Tools and Resources
Map the Meal Gap: Hunger and Poverty in the United States
Source: Feeding America
For the tenth consecutive year, Feeding America conducted our annual Map the Meal Gap study to improve our understanding of food insecurity and food costs at the local level. The most recent release is based on data from 2018. In response to COVID-19, also released is a companion study and interactive map that illustrate the projected impact of the pandemic on local food insecurity in 2020. To better assess the current and future state of local food insecurity, it is critical to understand historical variations prior to the pandemic. Only then can we develop effective strategies to reach people at risk of hunger.

Safe Streets in American Cities: How Complete Streets Laws are Creating Strong Communities
Source: Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition
Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition have released Safe Streets in American Cities: How Complete Streets Laws are Creating Stronger Communities. This report evaluates Complete Streets policies in the 40 largest cities in the United States and awards cities a medal based on the strength of their Complete Streets policy.

News and Media
Helping All New Jerseyans Lead Their Healthiest Lives
Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
RWJF in April 2019 released a comprehensive set of policy recommendations in partnership with the Center for State Health Policy and the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, both at Rutgers University. The report, Building a Culture of Health: A Policy Roadmap to Help All New Jerseyans Live Their Healthiest Lives, identified 13 priorities for building a Culture of Health in New Jersey in three key areas:

  • Healthy children and families
  • Healthy communities
  • High-quality, equitable health and social service systems

RWJF recently awarded $2.9 million in new grants to address some of New Jersey's most intractable health gaps. This work will not be easy, but it's work that needs to be done in order to make significant progress towards equity, particularly for the members in our communities with fewer opportunities to achieve optimal health and well-being.

Training, Collaborations and Networking
October 13 - 12 pm ET
Leading the Way to Health Equity
Host: Action for Healthy Kids
Join for a timely conversation about the leadership needed to truly achieve health equity and combat today’s urgent threats to children’s physical, mental and emotional health and well-being. Dr. Satcher will discuss:
  • The most pressing health problems facing youth and the dire consequences of ignoring them
  • The leadership necessary to eliminate health disparities
  • His perspective as an early civil rights activist on tackling systemic racial injustice today
  • Leadership that moves the needle rather than maintains the status quo

October 14 - 2 pm ET
The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America
Host: America Walks
In his book The Black Butterfly, and this conversation, Lawrence T. Brown offers a clear five-step plan for activists, nonprofits, and public officials to achieve racial equity.

Available on Demand
Creating Healthy Communities: A New Perspective on What Fostering Health Takes
Host: US News / Aetna Foundation
Hear fresh insights about the newly released Healthiest Communities rankings, developed by U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with the Aetna Foundation. The rankings measure critical health-related components of society with the aim of empowering citizens, health leaders and officials to make decisions about policies and practices that can improve health outcomes for all. Experts from the fields of public health and community development will explore what has been learned about the necessary components of a coordinated attempt to move the needle on community wellness.

Available on Demand
Addressing the Power of Data to Track Community Health
Host: APHA
In a value-based population health era, it’s become increasingly clear that keeping people well and out of the hospital depends on taking action on the social determinants of health.