Betty&Smith

Through its Building Healthy Communities priority area, NYHealth has supported neighborhood-level approaches to improve access to healthy, affordable food and to activate spaces to encourage more physical activity.

To sustain the progress that has been made in these communities, it is important that neighborhood grantees have the tools and capacity they need to maintain and expand their initiatives and goals. Grantees have expressed a particular need for support in advocating for local policy change and solutions and effectively communicating their wins, goals, needs, and value. Strengthening these efforts will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the achievements and place-based work in each neighborhood. In 2022, NYHealth awarded Betty&Smith a grant to help engage residents in the neighborhoods of Brownsville, Brooklyn, and Belmont in the Bronx in a community network that advances civic issues and builds neighborhood resiliency.

Under this grant, Betty&Smith will partner with Project EATS to engage residents to create a community network that elevates civic issues important to them and builds residents’ self-determination and resiliency. It will facilitate a process for residents to brainstorm and share their vision of the content they hope to receive, create, and contribute to their networks. It will create a toolkit of resources to raise awareness of the network and educate the communities and their partners. Social media posts, testimonials, and contests will be used to engage the community in the project. Once underway, Betty&Smith will provide strategic advice to residents on how to create, tailor, and refine their contributions to the network. It will also assist with additional community workshops and sessions to ensure a sustainable and active community network.