In October, many of us had the privilege to attend Pisgah Legal Services Poverty Forum. Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund spoke on Ending Child Poverty Now. This powerful event reminds us that, with close to 1 in 5 of children in Buncombe County living in poverty, all of our work is intricately connected to child poverty. In a Mountain Xpress article covering the event, Advisory Board member Jaclyn Kiger highlights our CHIP process as on of the creative ways our community is addressing the health impact of child poverty.
Ms. Edleman underscores the heart of our work in her remarks that “American children in poverty didn’t ask to be born,” she said. They didn’t choose their parents or their neighborhoods... And because of where they live, they attend poorer schools, have fewer safe places to play and are less likely to have a nurturing relationship with a caregiver after school. They get less exercise and have less access to nutritious food because their neighborhoods likely don’t have grocery stores or restaurants that serve healthy food. In addition, their homes are more likely to have mold, lead and other contaminants that make them sick or sicker.
If you missed the event, the Asheville Channel taped Ms. Edelman remarks and you can view the video.
In particular as we approach the 2nd Tuesday in November, Ms. Edleman reminds us that The best, most practical solution to poverty in America lies with the voters...Get to the voting booth, she said. Your vote connects right to children. So much is riding on this.
As we move toward making the blog our "go-to" resource for all things CHIP. You will now find a link to the CHIP Advisory meeting agenda and materials on the righthand menu bar. The calendar also includes our meeting dates with a link to the agenda and materials. As we identify future meeting topics they will also be noted on our calendar (this will be discussed at our upcoming CHIP Advisory meeting). Workgroup meetings are also listed. If you have events you would like to include on the calendar, please contact Terri to post.
Now that everyone is beginning to explore the scorecard, we've been asked about how the scorecard shows the progress being made toward addressing our priorities. This is mostly shown via data which doesn't change frequently. The Action Plan section of the scorecard is a little unweldy to use and doesn't provide much detail and we want to keep narrative sections short. We've now added links to the Priority area blogsites for discussion on the progress of the workgroups. You can also find them listed on the right-hand menu bar. Please note these blogs are updated on an "as needed" basis and content may change more or less frequently than the main CHIP page.
It is both with congratulations and sadness that we announce Deborah Calhoun's move to United Way as the Community Partnerships Director! Deborah has been an amazing and talented part of our HIS team and we will miss her tremendously! However, we know that her role at United Way will allow for opportunities to work together and her experience with CHIP may provide the foundation for possibilities that we haven't yet considered. Therefore our Support request for this month, is for you to help us find a talented new CHIP Health Improvement Specialist! We expect the position to be posted shortly. However, the Job Description is found on our Support page as well as a link to the MAHEC employment opportunities webpage.
Please take a few minutes to read our additional Update featured sections this month to find out what you can do to share information that supports our CHIP priorities and partners.
This months Engage continues to focus on the City of Asheville Bond Referendum on the November Ballot with funding slated to support critical affordable housing, transportation and recreation needs. We also focus on the general election. To echo Ms. Edelman, our votes connect back to our children. So do whatever you can to help get to the polls those who may have difficulty voting or not be inclined to do so and our page includes some helpful hints as well as the 2016 Voter Guide.
In Learn you'll find an upcoming training later this week on how to use the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) to address physiological reactions to stress and trauma. You'll also have an opportunity to learn about a global resiliency effort at a film screening of When I Was Young I Said I Would Be Happy, A transformational story of 12 Rwandan genocide survivors. The event will support a Mt. Kilmanjaro climb and efforts to raise awareness and take steps to end the cycle of generational trauma while creating new patterns of peaceful living. Finally, we have posted information on a pre-recorded 3-part series on health equity by the Community Health Institute that appears to be quite comprehensive.
As always, check our the Resources You Can Use Page space has several new resources this month including two that can inform your work around equity issues, and resources from the Food Research Council on ending hunger and from CDC on policies to address social determinants of health.
And once again, don't forget that our Facebook Page is where we provide more timely information.
Please share your needs for support, resources and information to help us all be successful in our work together! Update items should be emailed to Terri the 3rd week of the month. However, items can be added to the blog or facebook at any time. Also note, just like any public blog, you are free to use the comment space below each post to share additional information or opinions.
Sincerely,
Now that everyone is beginning to explore the scorecard, we've been asked about how the scorecard shows the progress being made toward addressing our priorities. This is mostly shown via data which doesn't change frequently. The Action Plan section of the scorecard is a little unweldy to use and doesn't provide much detail and we want to keep narrative sections short. We've now added links to the Priority area blogsites for discussion on the progress of the workgroups. You can also find them listed on the right-hand menu bar. Please note these blogs are updated on an "as needed" basis and content may change more or less frequently than the main CHIP page.
It is both with congratulations and sadness that we announce Deborah Calhoun's move to United Way as the Community Partnerships Director! Deborah has been an amazing and talented part of our HIS team and we will miss her tremendously! However, we know that her role at United Way will allow for opportunities to work together and her experience with CHIP may provide the foundation for possibilities that we haven't yet considered. Therefore our Support request for this month, is for you to help us find a talented new CHIP Health Improvement Specialist! We expect the position to be posted shortly. However, the Job Description is found on our Support page as well as a link to the MAHEC employment opportunities webpage.
Please take a few minutes to read our additional Update featured sections this month to find out what you can do to share information that supports our CHIP priorities and partners.
This months Engage continues to focus on the City of Asheville Bond Referendum on the November Ballot with funding slated to support critical affordable housing, transportation and recreation needs. We also focus on the general election. To echo Ms. Edelman, our votes connect back to our children. So do whatever you can to help get to the polls those who may have difficulty voting or not be inclined to do so and our page includes some helpful hints as well as the 2016 Voter Guide.
In Learn you'll find an upcoming training later this week on how to use the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) to address physiological reactions to stress and trauma. You'll also have an opportunity to learn about a global resiliency effort at a film screening of When I Was Young I Said I Would Be Happy, A transformational story of 12 Rwandan genocide survivors. The event will support a Mt. Kilmanjaro climb and efforts to raise awareness and take steps to end the cycle of generational trauma while creating new patterns of peaceful living. Finally, we have posted information on a pre-recorded 3-part series on health equity by the Community Health Institute that appears to be quite comprehensive.
As always, check our the Resources You Can Use Page space has several new resources this month including two that can inform your work around equity issues, and resources from the Food Research Council on ending hunger and from CDC on policies to address social determinants of health.
And once again, don't forget that our Facebook Page is where we provide more timely information.
Please share your needs for support, resources and information to help us all be successful in our work together! Update items should be emailed to Terri the 3rd week of the month. However, items can be added to the blog or facebook at any time. Also note, just like any public blog, you are free to use the comment space below each post to share additional information or opinions.
Sincerely,
Deborah, Deanna, and Terri
CHIP Health Improvement Specialists
CHIP Health Improvement Specialists
