Building Healthy Communities | Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is home to one of the most spectacular waterfalls of the world. Alongside this magnet for international and domestic tourism, the Highland Avenue and Hyde Park neighborhoods of Niagara Falls are home to working class and vulnerable communities experiencing harsh realities. Residents and community leaders are working to address the lack of access to affordable nutritious food, activate public spaces, and help gain support for improvements to the built environment that increase connectivity and walkability.

A group of young people shovel dirt around a tree in a community garden on a sunny day.

Niagara Falls

Grantee Name: Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative, Inc.
Project Title:Create a Healthier Niagara Falls
Grant Amount: $250,000

Grantee Name: Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative, Inc.
Project Title: Healthy Neighborhoods Fund, Phase 2
Grant Amount: $300,000

Community Fast Facts
  • 2 out of 3 residents of Niagara Falls make less than $25,000 per year.
  • 65% of children in the school district are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
  • 39% of children live in poverty.
  • Unemployment rate is 7.9% on average, and 17.1% for black residents.
  • 30% of adults, 21% of children, and 13.2% low-income pre-schoolers are obese.
  • 10% of adults have diabetes.
Project Goals
  • Address the lack of access to healthy food;
  • Activate public spaces for play and socialization; and
  • Identify desires for lifestyle change indicated by residents in the target neighborhoods.
What We’ve Achieved to Date

Healthy Foods:

  • Built 5 new community gardens;
  • Developed a mobile grocery food truck program for the neighborhood;
  • Organized a meeting attended by 170 residents with Price Chopper supermarket to show the community’s interest in having a local supermarket in the Highland Avenue area;
  • Increased the number of farmers markets participating in the Double Up Food Bucks initiative from 15 to 81, expanding the program from 5 to 11 counties;
  • Expanded the number of farmers markets using electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards and accepting SNAP benefits; and
  • Secured a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant of $300,000 to expand the Double Up Food Bucks program.

Built Environment & Physical Activity:

  • Launched a Pop-Up Park series to activate existing public spaces, such as parks and empty lots, for adults and youth. In addition to engaging in physical activity, residents also had an opportunity to voice their opinions and tell personal stories about the growth potential in Niagara Falls.

Community Engagement:

  • Developed a resident engagement council, which trains residents to take on leadership
    roles and advocate for community improvement initiatives; and
  • Created the Niagara Falls Youth City Council, made up of nine high school youth who are formally advising the Niagara Falls City Council on issues pertaining to youth and recreation in Niagara Falls.
Partnerships
What We’re Investing In
Bunches of carrots and beets on a table at a farmers market; a hand reaches in to grab a beet.

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