Community Transformation Grant Awarded to The Gateway Family YMCA
The Gateway Family YMCA Awarded Grant to Expand Healthy Living Programs and Initiatives in Elizabeth, NJ
Elizabeth, NJ, January 09, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Reducing health disparities in our most vulnerable communities remains a challenge in the United States. To address these disparities, seven new Ys in African American and Hispanic/Latino communities will be awarded grants totaling more than $743,000 to execute health and well-being programs to enhance health outcomes. This grant is part of a national initiative supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Community Transformation Grant (CTG) program.
The Gateway Family YMCA was awarded $100,000 of this grant to enhance the overall health & well-being of Elizabeth residents. The CTG program enables Ys throughout the U.S. to design and implement transformative programs that address the prevalence of health inequity, improve health outcomes, reduce the number of new cases of chronic diseases and contribute to lowering associated health care costs. The Y is one of only six national networks of community-based organizations selected for a CTG grant.
“As a leading nonprofit committed to improving the nation’s health, the Y believes that every person in the city of Elizabeth deserves to live and grow in a strong and healthy community,” said Krystal R. Canady, Chief Executive Officer. “Thanks to CDC’s Community Transformation Grant program we are able to grow our efforts to make resources accessible to everyone, especially those who face the greatest barriers to healthy living.”
The Gateway Family YMCA’s CTGs efforts will focus on two main areas:
1. Coordinating and linking systems between health care providers, clinical settings and community-based organizations to help guide individuals to prevention efforts and programs that are proven to increase health outcomes, such as the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program.
2. Improving local efforts to implement strategies that create environments in early childhood and afterschool settings that ease the adoption of healthy eating and physical activity standards.
Assisting the Y with its efforts are the following community organizations:
-Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County
-Department of Health & Human Services City of Elizabeth
-Elizabethport Presbyterian Center
-Trinitas Regional Medical Center
-Groundwork Elizabeth
Their CTG work is part of a larger Community Health Initiative, Shaping Elizabeth formed in 2013 with the support of a mini grant from Shaping NJ. Shaping Elizabeth is a team committed to working together to improve the health of the Elizabeth Community where all children will grow up in a healthy environment. Where all adults: residents, business owners, government officials, schools and community groups in the city work together to ensure that the healthy choice is the easy choice. In 2013 Shaping Elizabeth successfully implemented a community garden, nutrition education, worksite wellness at Trinitas RMC, “One Flight Up, Two Flights Down” and a Walking Audit of the Midtown Area. In 2014 along with CTG we will continue and expand our work with support from The Elizabethtown Healthcare Foundation and Shaping NJ.
The CDC estimates that the CTG program will improve the health of more than four out of ten (about 130 million) Americans. These funds will create opportunities for health and wellness with strategies that focus on creating smoke-free environments, access to physical activity and healthy food, and ensuring healthy and safe physical environments are available in many of the nation’s low-income communities. To date, the Y has impacted nearly 68 million lives by influencing more than 35,970 policy, systems and environmental changes in 224 communities across the nation.
The Gateway Family YMCA, formerly The YMCA of Eastern Union County, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, health and community service organization of caring staff and volunteers dedicated to strengthening the foundations of community and stands For Youth Development, For Healthy Living and For Social Responsibility. The Y is more than a gym. It’s a cause. The Gateway Family YMCA impacts the community by providing quality services to people of all ages, races, faith or incomes. The Y doesn’t just strengthen bodies – it strengthens people, families and communities.
For more information about community programs and services provided by The Gateway Family YMCA, please visit www.tgfymca.org or contact the Elizabeth Branch at elizabethinfo@tgfymca.org 908-355-9622, Five Points Branch at fivepointsinfo@tgfymca.org 908-688-9622, Rahway Branch at rahwayinfo@tgfymca.org 908-388-0057, or the Wellness Center Branch at wellnessinfo@tgfymca.org 908-349-9622.
About the Y
The Y is one of the nation’s leading nonprofits strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Across the U.S., 2,700 Ys engage 21 million men, women and children – regardless of age, income or background – to nurture the potential of children and teens, improve the nation’s health and well-being, and provide opportunities to give back and support neighbors. Anchored in more than 10,000 communities, the Y has the long-standing relationships and physical presence not just to promise, but to deliver, lasting personal and social change. ymca.net
The Gateway Family YMCA was awarded $100,000 of this grant to enhance the overall health & well-being of Elizabeth residents. The CTG program enables Ys throughout the U.S. to design and implement transformative programs that address the prevalence of health inequity, improve health outcomes, reduce the number of new cases of chronic diseases and contribute to lowering associated health care costs. The Y is one of only six national networks of community-based organizations selected for a CTG grant.
“As a leading nonprofit committed to improving the nation’s health, the Y believes that every person in the city of Elizabeth deserves to live and grow in a strong and healthy community,” said Krystal R. Canady, Chief Executive Officer. “Thanks to CDC’s Community Transformation Grant program we are able to grow our efforts to make resources accessible to everyone, especially those who face the greatest barriers to healthy living.”
The Gateway Family YMCA’s CTGs efforts will focus on two main areas:
1. Coordinating and linking systems between health care providers, clinical settings and community-based organizations to help guide individuals to prevention efforts and programs that are proven to increase health outcomes, such as the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program.
2. Improving local efforts to implement strategies that create environments in early childhood and afterschool settings that ease the adoption of healthy eating and physical activity standards.
Assisting the Y with its efforts are the following community organizations:
-Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County
-Department of Health & Human Services City of Elizabeth
-Elizabethport Presbyterian Center
-Trinitas Regional Medical Center
-Groundwork Elizabeth
Their CTG work is part of a larger Community Health Initiative, Shaping Elizabeth formed in 2013 with the support of a mini grant from Shaping NJ. Shaping Elizabeth is a team committed to working together to improve the health of the Elizabeth Community where all children will grow up in a healthy environment. Where all adults: residents, business owners, government officials, schools and community groups in the city work together to ensure that the healthy choice is the easy choice. In 2013 Shaping Elizabeth successfully implemented a community garden, nutrition education, worksite wellness at Trinitas RMC, “One Flight Up, Two Flights Down” and a Walking Audit of the Midtown Area. In 2014 along with CTG we will continue and expand our work with support from The Elizabethtown Healthcare Foundation and Shaping NJ.
The CDC estimates that the CTG program will improve the health of more than four out of ten (about 130 million) Americans. These funds will create opportunities for health and wellness with strategies that focus on creating smoke-free environments, access to physical activity and healthy food, and ensuring healthy and safe physical environments are available in many of the nation’s low-income communities. To date, the Y has impacted nearly 68 million lives by influencing more than 35,970 policy, systems and environmental changes in 224 communities across the nation.
The Gateway Family YMCA, formerly The YMCA of Eastern Union County, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, health and community service organization of caring staff and volunteers dedicated to strengthening the foundations of community and stands For Youth Development, For Healthy Living and For Social Responsibility. The Y is more than a gym. It’s a cause. The Gateway Family YMCA impacts the community by providing quality services to people of all ages, races, faith or incomes. The Y doesn’t just strengthen bodies – it strengthens people, families and communities.
For more information about community programs and services provided by The Gateway Family YMCA, please visit www.tgfymca.org or contact the Elizabeth Branch at elizabethinfo@tgfymca.org 908-355-9622, Five Points Branch at fivepointsinfo@tgfymca.org 908-688-9622, Rahway Branch at rahwayinfo@tgfymca.org 908-388-0057, or the Wellness Center Branch at wellnessinfo@tgfymca.org 908-349-9622.
About the Y
The Y is one of the nation’s leading nonprofits strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. Across the U.S., 2,700 Ys engage 21 million men, women and children – regardless of age, income or background – to nurture the potential of children and teens, improve the nation’s health and well-being, and provide opportunities to give back and support neighbors. Anchored in more than 10,000 communities, the Y has the long-standing relationships and physical presence not just to promise, but to deliver, lasting personal and social change. ymca.net
Contact
The Gateway Family YMCA
Colleen Clayton
908-249-4811
www.tgfymca.org
Colleen Clayton
908-249-4811
www.tgfymca.org
Contact
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