HARTFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Aetna Foundation today announced that they have awarded more than $3 million in community grants to 75 nonprofit organizations in 22 states as part of GoLocal: Cultivating Healthy Communities, a program that helps healthy food choices and active living take root in underserved communities.
“Poor nutrition and low activity levels can be especially challenging in underserved communities, but local programs like those the Aetna Foundation supports can have a big impact on community health”
One component of GoLocal is the Local Roots grant program, which included a specific focus on funding the creation and expansion of community gardens, urban farms and farmers markets. These programs will increase access to fresh foods, create opportunities for nutrition education and promote exercise in local neighborhoods.
This funding comes at a critical time when there is a great need to make healthy foods more available, accessible and affordable at the local level. An estimated 14 percent of American households were food insecure at some time during 2014, meaning they lacked access to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members, according to the USDA. In addition, approximately 23 million Americans live in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods more than one mile away from the nearest grocery store, according to Let’s Move.
“Poor nutrition and low activity levels can be especially challenging in underserved communities, but local programs like those the Aetna Foundation supports can have a big impact on community health,” said Garth Graham, M.D., MPH, president of the Aetna Foundation. “At the Aetna Foundation, we know that place matters. Where you live can have a profound impact on your health. We’re excited to support programs that reach people where they are with specific ways to incorporate healthy eating and exercise – reaching people in their neighborhoods leads to sustainable change that will be key to improving health outcomes nationwide.”
Another component of GoLocal is the Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) program, which is designed to create momentum behind healthier lifestyles by focusing on better nutrition and greater physical activity in underserved communities. In addition to making healthy foods available, accessible and affordable, these programs will allow people of all ages to come together through neighborhood solutions.
Since 2014, the Aetna Foundation’s GoLocal: Cultivating Healthy Communities grant program has awarded more than $6.4 million in grants and sponsorships. Through programs like Local Roots and HEAL, the Aetna Foundation is building a healthier world, community by community.
Grants have been awarded to the following programs:
| Organization | Project | State Served | ||||||||
| Esperanca, Inc | Salud con Sabor Latino (Health with a Latin Flavor) | Arizona | ||||||||
| Family Involvement Center | Salsa, Sabor y Salud | Arizona | ||||||||
| Golden Gate Community Center a Program of Wesley Community Center | Health with Latin Flavor | Arizona | ||||||||
| CommunityGrows | Garden and Nutrition Education for Underserved Youth: Alemany Farm Expansion | California | ||||||||
| The Edible Schoolyard Project | Growing Strong Leaders in Edible Education | California | ||||||||
| Garden School Foundation | The Seed to Table Project | California | ||||||||
| LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes | LA Plaza Garden & Culinary Arts workshops at Family Day events | California | ||||||||
| Students Run America | Training For a Marathon…Training for Life | California | ||||||||
| Youth Policy Institute | Local Roots LA | California | ||||||||
| Denver Urban Gardens | Building a Healthy Local Food System for Metro Denver | Colorado | ||||||||
| Groundwork Denver Incorporated | Cultivate Health: Youth Leadership & Community Farming | Colorado | ||||||||
| Billings Forge Community Works Inc. | Food for Good in Frog Hollow: Eating fresh, local, and together | Connecticut | ||||||||
| Chrysalis Center, Inc. | Chrysalis Center’s Railway Gardens, Food Forest and Homestead Farmer’s Market | Connecticut | ||||||||
| Hartford Marathon Foundation, Inc. | HMF FitKids | Connecticut | ||||||||
| Knox, Inc. | Hartford Grown Headquarters: Phase 2 & 3 | Connecticut | ||||||||
| The Trust for Public Land | Parks for People — Bridgeport | Connecticut | ||||||||
| American University: School of Education, Teaching, and Health | Vive Sana: Enhancing Access and Skills for Community Healthy Eating | District of Columbia | ||||||||
| DC Central Kitchen | Healthy Corners: Enhancing the Health of Low-Income Communities through Empowering Entire Households to Make Better Food Choices | District of Columbia | ||||||||
| Iona Senior Services | Senior Farm-to-Table Cooking Classes and Nutrition Education Project | District of Columbia | ||||||||
| Teens Run DC | Teens Run DC | District of Columbia | ||||||||
| Washington Tennis & Education Foundation | WTEF Fitness Program for Children and Youth Living in At-Risk Neighborhoods | District of Columbia | ||||||||
| Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade | Little Chefs and Get Fit Challenge | Florida | ||||||||
| Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Broward County, Inc. | Cultivating Good Health Expansion Project | Florida | ||||||||
| Hispanic Unity Of Florida, Inc. | Unity 4Teens- A Size Healthy (ASH) | Florida | ||||||||
| Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association | The Tampa Heights Farmers’ Market: Bringing It All Together — Tampa Heights Healthy Living, Garden, Kitchen, Training and Social Enterprise | Florida | ||||||||
| Captain Planet Foundation | Grow, Eat, Love: Nutrition Education in Project Learning Garden schools | Georgia | ||||||||
| Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential | GCAPP Plant, Grow and Learn Garden Project | Georgia | ||||||||
| Association House Of Chicago | Healthy Families Initiative | Illinois | ||||||||
| Chicago Horticultural Society | Windy City Harvest Youth Farm | Illinois | ||||||||
| Erie Family Health Center, Inc. | Healthy Eating and Active Living Program for Underserved Communities (HEAL) | Illinois | ||||||||
| Erie Neighborhood House | Super H: Healthy Kids, Healthy Families | Illinois | ||||||||
| Fuller Park Community Development Corporation | Eden Place Farmers Outreach and Training Initiative | Illinois | ||||||||
| Sankofa Community Development Corporation | Sankofa Fresh Market, Learning Garden, and Youth Education Programs | Louisiana | ||||||||
| Tulane University | Grow Dat Youth Farm–Expanding Our Successful Model | Louisiana | ||||||||
| Cultivating Community | Proliferating Garden Access, Healthy Food Access, and Food-Based Education and Empowerment for Portland, Maine’s Food Growers and Food Eaters | Maine | ||||||||
| St. Mary’s Nutrition Center | Digging Deeper and Spreading Roots: an expansion plan for community gardens in Lewiston-Auburn Maine | Maine | ||||||||
| GapBuster, Inc. | Healthy Mind / Healthy Bodies | Maryland | ||||||||
| Madison Park Development Corporation | Grow Roxbury | Massachusetts | ||||||||
| Mass Audubon | Boston Nature Center Urban Food Forest | Massachusetts | ||||||||
| Gateway Greening | Gateway Greening: School Gardens for Healthier Kids | Missouri | ||||||||
| Boat People SOS, Inc. | Resilient Roots Farm Program | New Jersey | ||||||||
| Covenant House New Jersey Inc | Healthy Food, Healthy Life Initiative | New Jersey | ||||||||
| Fan4Kids, A NJ Nonprofit Corporation | F4K New Jersey Expansion | New Jersey | ||||||||
| Young Audiences of New Jersey | Jump with Jill Nutrition Education Initiative | New Jersey | ||||||||
| Citizens Committee For New York City | Aetna Local Roots Awards | New York | ||||||||
| Figure Skating in Harlem, Inc. | Active Living Program | New York | ||||||||
| Fund for Public Health in New York | Building Healthy Communities: Supporting Grow to Learn’s Citywide School Garden Initiative | New York | ||||||||
| Girls on the Run NYC | Empowering Girls through Movement: Delivering Girls on the Run, A Physical-Activity Based Positive Youth Development Program, in NYC | New York | ||||||||
| The Doe Fund | Urban Agriculture Program | New York | ||||||||
| Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation | Community Gymnastics Programs | New York | ||||||||
| Sow Much Good Inc | SMG Market & Program Expansion | North Carolina | ||||||||
| Young Men’s Christian Association of Northwest North Carolina | Planting the Seeds for a Strong Community | North Carolina | ||||||||
| Local Matters | Seeding the Future: Building Food Security through Community Gardens and Healthful Food Education | Ohio | ||||||||
| The Center for Closing the Health Gap in Greater Cincinnati | Do Right! Kids Mt. Auburn & Walnut Hills | Ohio | ||||||||
| The Children’s Home of Cincinnati, Ohio | Nutrition Matters Initiative | Ohio | ||||||||
| The Refugee Response | Refugee Empowerment Agricultural Program (REAP) | Ohio | ||||||||
| A Little Taste Of Everything Inc | Mill Creek Farm | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Esperanza Health Center | Nuclear Powered Fitness and Nutrition | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Federation of Neighborhood Centers | Teens 4 Good Healthy Community Initiative | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Greensgrow Philadelphia Project | Greensgrow Community Garden Center | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Nationalities Service Center | Growing Home: Refugee Community Gardens | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| The Food Trust | Expanding HYPE Beyond School Walls: Empowering Youth Leaders to Improve School and Community Health | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Urban Tree Connection | Neighborhood Foods | Pennsylvania | ||||||||
| Trevecca Nazarene University | Food Desert to Food Oasis: University and Youth Partnership for Growing and Marketing Fresh Food | Tennessee | ||||||||
| Baylor Health Care System Foundation | Farm Stand Expansion Project with a Family Demonstration Garden Project | Texas | ||||||||
| Foundation for Wellness, Texas | FitWorth Fuel Program | Texas | ||||||||
| People’s Community Clinic | Happy Kitchen/Cocina Alegre | Texas | ||||||||
| San Antonio Sports | i play! afterschool program | Texas | ||||||||
| Sustainable Food Center | Healthy Families | Texas | ||||||||
| The Concilio | Comprando Rico y Sano (Buying and Shopping Healthy) | Texas | ||||||||
| Greater Richmond Fit4Kids, Inc | Fit4Kids: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds | Virginia | ||||||||
| United Methodist Urban Ministries Of Richmond Inc | Urban Farmacy and Kitchen Prescription | Virginia | ||||||||
| Green Plate Special | Bringing the Garden to the Table for central and south Seattle’s Low Income Youth, Their Community, and Teachers | Washington | ||||||||
| Solid Ground | Food Access and Community Education | Washington | ||||||||
| The Market Foundation | Pike Place Market Cooking Classes | Washington | ||||||||
About the Aetna Foundation
The Aetna Foundation is the independent charitable and philanthropic arm of Aetna (NYSE: AET). Since 1980, Aetna and the Aetna Foundation have contributed more than $465 million in grants and sponsorships. As a national health foundation, we promote wellness, health, and access to high-quality health care for everyone. This work is enhanced by the time and commitment of Aetna employees, who have volunteered 3.8 million hours since 2003. For more information, visit www.aetnafoundation.org.
Contacts
Aetna Foundation Media Contact:
Matthew Clyburn, 860-416-6513
ClyburnM@AETNA.com
or
BRG Communications Media Contact:
Maureen Salazar, 703-739-8366
msalazar@brgcommunications.com
About FitWorth Healthy City Initiative: FitWorth is a family-focused initiative of Mayor Betsy Price and the Fort Worth City Council launched in September 2012 to address the growing trend of childhood obesity in the city. In 2014, FitWorth became an independent program of Foundation for Wellness, Texas, tasked with promoting health and active lifestyles through an individualized and sustainable approach to community wellness.