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A message from our Director
CARE’s mission to improve health in New Haven has never been as meaningful as in 2020. The current public health crisis has presented enormous challenges and deep pain across our city. COVID-19 has illuminated deep-seated health disparities that residents and community partners have seen for decades in New Haven and other U.S. communities.
Yet, COVID-19 has allowed community partners to work together in new and innovative ways to respond to the pandemic and meet the needs of residents most in need. I am immensely impressed with the ways that CARE’s staff, students, and community partners have contributed substantively and meaningfully to the New Haven community. Our collaborative strength will pull us through these turbulent times.
I look forward to celebrating in-person at some point in 2021. Until then, keep yourselves and your loved ones safe and healthy!
Alycia Santilli, Director |
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REACH HighlightsCARE submitted two required success stories to the CDC, highlighting our REACH activities that have made notable impacts in the New Haven community. This year, we focused on the important work of mobilizing food pantry services during COVID-19 and the impact of active transportation on safety and chronic disease.
Please click on the images below to view. |
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Fight the Flu, New Haven In September, CARE received supplemental grant funding from the CDC, made available to all REACH recipients, to promote flu vaccinations among Black and Brown residents in New Haven. We are actively mobilizing our community-based network to deliver a locally-tailored education and outreach campaign to increase uptake of flu vaccinations, accompanied by mobile vaccine clinics provided by the Yale Community Health Care Van.
Learn more: https://www.fighttheflunewhaven.com
Questions? Contact Bernard Macklin or Sarah Gordon Brilla |
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Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith tapped by President-elect Biden CARE Advisory Council member, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a co-chair of President-elect Biden’s Transition COVID-19 advisory board, will also lead a new federal task force dedicated to health equity.
Nunez-Smith is one of the nation’s foremost experts on disparities in healthcare access. Since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has called attention to the unequal burden borne by communities of color.
In her new role, she will work with wide-reaching partners to ensure an equitable recovery for the communities hardest hit by COVID-19.
Dr. Nancy J. Brown, Yale’s Dean of Medicine comments, “Dr. Nunez-Smith brings a scientific understanding of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the health of specific groups in the community, which is critical to meet the challenges we are facing.”
Read more here:
“Nunez-Smith to lead Biden health equity task force” Yale News
“Biden taps three experts with Yale ties to lead COVID-19 advisory board” Yale News
“Biden Names 13 Health Experts To COVID-19 Transition Advisory Board” NPR |
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Op-Ed on Structural Racism & COVID-19In collaboration with the REACH Steering Committee, we published an op-ed titled, “Structural racism in New Haven illuminated by COVID-19” in the New Haven Register this past July. |
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Racism as a Public Health Crisis The REACH Steering Committee was instrumental in helping to pass a resolution declaring racism a public health emergency. This is part of Health Equity Solutions’ statewide advocacy efforts to pass a resolution in all towns in Connecticut.
When the resolution was passed, the Board of Alders also created a Working Group on Racism as a Public Health Emergency. Three members of the REACH Steering Committee serve on the working group: Brita Roy, Natasha Ray, and Alycia Santilli.
On October 16th, the working group called a public hearing for New Haven residents to testify about policy priorities and ordinances that the Board of Alders should address related to racism and public health.
The Working Group is now finalizing recommendations to submit to the Board of Alders.
“Towns and Cities Make Strides After Declaring Racism A Public Health Crisis” |
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Frankie Douglass,
Breastfeeding CHW
About Frankie
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Katherine LaMonaca, MPH,
Evaluation Manager
About Katherine
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Marquita Taylor, Ph.D., MBA, MPH,
Assistant Director of Health Equity Leadership Programs
About Dr. Taylor
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Genesis Vincente,
REACH Project Manager
About Genesis
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Health Leader Programs
In August, we wrapped up our 2nd cohort of the PCORI-funded Community Research Fellows with 9 participants completing the program, In the two years of the program, we have worked with 23 Fellows. The Community Research Fellows program is now expanding to the Yale Cancer Center, which will begin in January 2021.
We just launched the 2nd cohort of the REACH Health Leaders program, with 12 participants, and recently expanded this program to Clifford Beers. At Clifford Beers, we are implementing this program with 8 staff who have been hired as Community Health Organizers for the Embrace New Haven program, a care coordination program funded by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare.
Wholesome Wave
Wholesome Wave is a nonprofit that develops partnership-based programs across the country that enable underserved consumers to make healthier food choices by increasing affordable access to healthy, locally, and regionally grown foods. CARE, through the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, has been involved in developing evaluation plans for Wholesome Wave Fruit and Vegetable Voucher and Prescription programs and providing capacity-building support around data collection, data management, program evaluation, and policy impact. Recently, the CARE evaluation team has finalized several evaluation plans and reports including those for Wholesome Wave Impact 2020 programs, Wholesome Wave Hartford Healthcare, and A Fresh Start programs. The Wholesome Wave Impact 2020 programs included nine sites with two simultaneous programs: Depth 2020 providing intensive support for a smaller number of participants and Scale 2020 which provided a more modest incentive to a larger number of participants. The Hartford Healthcare Program partnership with Wholesome Wave is a proof of concept to assess the feasibility of the program and benefits that can be achieved in inpatient care, diabetes control, nutrition behaviors, and food security through a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program. A Fresh Start program provides F&V vouchers and education to families with young children to increase healthy nutrition. Study results will be available on the Wholesome Wave website.
REACH Breastfeeding Initiative
With this project, we are working to support equitable breastfeeding in New Haven through several activities.- CARE is supporting a culturally relevant WIC Peer Counselor to fill gaps in care, in particular for mothers of color in New Haven.
- CARE is conducting focus groups with moms most affected by breastfeeding disparities to find out about barriers and facilitators in their communities and amplify their voices to inform services.
- CARE staff are working with partners at the Connecticut Department of Public Health to educate and train clinicians (pediatricians, physicians, nurses, and others) on how to provide culturally relevant breastfeeding support from a racial equity lens.
- Several partners launched the New Haven Breastfeeding Task Force, which is working to advocate for publicly accessible lactation spaces to be made available throughout our community, supporting the development of a Breastfeeding Friendly Physician Office Recognition Program, and rolling out a Breastfeeding Friendly Businesses Recognition program, among many other efforts. The Breastfeeding Task Force serves as a space for community members with a stake in this issue to have a platform to voice concerns and calls for action around breastfeeding.
- We are pushing employers to observe lactation accommodation laws through their workplace policies, starting with our very own City Hall, and helping to inform a state-wide campaign from a racial equity lens.
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