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Community Health Projects were health promotion and environmental change programs based on the wellness village’s plan for improving community health. Activities used youth action to engage residents in improving the overall health of the community through environmental change.

Accomplishments:

• Community health projects successfully engaged residents in addressing improvements in their communities. Residents took actions such as converting vacant lots into gardens and play areas, helping non-English-speaking families understand the hazards of fishing in contaminated waters, establishing fitness programs, conducting lead prevention programs and providing sports and recreation activities.
• Community health projects strengthened community capacity for addressing health needs in communities. Through youth and adult partnerships as well as the utilization of a community-building model, networks within the community were strengthened.
• Community health projects increased the number of community-based organizations that integrated health improvements into their goals and objectives and developed programs to foster healthier lifestyles among community residents.

Challenges:

• Communities were challenged to understand community health as a concept. Early in the planning, there was interest in focusing on violence prevention, teenage pregnancy prevention and employment programs for youth. Community health did not have widespread appeal to residents.
• The technical assistance grantee was not successful in engaging planners around community health projects. Though they had broad public health experience, particularly around public education and media, working with community residents on asset-based community development was a major challenge.
• The Foundation language in early documents was confusing to grantees. Subtle changes in language caused frustration and setbacks in planning.
• Evaluators became de facto technical assistance providers given their greater understanding of community health and community psychology. Separation and distinction in roles and responsibilities of various support grantees was confusing and frustrating.
• The literature on community health was not readily available to community residents. The field was in formative stages and not readily distinguished from broader public health efforts.

Lessons Learned:

• Be clear. The language of public health and philanthropy combined may exceed the comprehension of those who work at the grassroots level in communities.
• Neighborhoods are significant points of entry for community health activities. They have underutilized resources and have potential for engaging residents around community health.
• Youth can be community leaders. Youth respond favorably to the invitation to plan, implement, evaluate and lead community projects.
• Resident-led projects can be effective. Resident-led community health projects can build social capital and social cohesion and can transform environments to improve community health.
• Health improvement via resident engagement is a complex process. Resident-driven community health projects deserve long-term study to fully understand processes such as empowerment and connection to health benefits.