PRYMCA receives second round of Healthy Community funding

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) has awarded $618,116 to 16 nonprofits across the state in the second phase of its Healthy Community grant program. The Piscataquis Regional YMCA was among the recipients receiving a grant of $39,616 to support the continuing work of the “Feel Good Piscataquis Healthy Community” project.

Launched in November of 2013, MeHAF’s Healthy Community program supports local, grassroots efforts that build or strengthen collaboration and active participation from diverse organizations to support good health. A key feature of these grants is engagement of individuals and groups in the community who typically are not included in defining solutions to local problems, such as people who are uninsured or low-income individuals and families.

“The Healthy Community program affirms our commitment to work with communities to improve the health of everyone in Maine in ways that reach beyond the delivery of direct health care services,” said Dr. Wendy Wolf, MeHAF president and CEO.

“I’m impressed by the innovative strategies that grantees are using to encourage participation and their ability to maintain the momentum of these collaborative projects. Each community has already made significant efforts to determine a health issue that is a local priority and over the next eighteen months they will create plans to address them,” commented Charles Dwyer, the MeHAF program officer who oversees the program.

In Piscataquis County, community members identified having better access to healthy food as a major health-related concern. In the newly-funded second phase, the Healthy Community initiative will focus on pulling together people and organizations from around the region to learn what makes it difficult for people to get the healthy food they need. More important, the project aims to support communities in finding ways to solve those problems.

“We’re excited to work on this issue,” said Erin Callaway, the PRYMCA’s Healthy Community project coordinator. “This is an opportunity to learn more about how food affects our health and to work together so all of us be as healthy as we can.”  The goal is particularly important for Piscataquis County, which ranks second to last among Maine’s most healthy counties according to the University of Wisconsin’s 2015 Community Healthy Rankings report.  

Healthy food as part of an overall healthy lifestyle has been shown to help lower people’s risk for diseases like diabetes and heart disease and to combat obesity — all of which are high in Piscataquis County. Unfortunately, there are many barriers that prevent people from getting healthy foods. Callaway has already brought together a diverse group of organizations and individuals to work on the issue of food access including organizations like included the Piscataquis Public Health Council and local physicians, but also  high school students, town managers, farmers,  church groups, and organizations like Piscataquis County Cooperative Extension.  

Now Callaway and the initial group of Healthy Community “stakeholders” are combining effort to invite even more individuals and groups to the conversation. This focus on community members is a key, said Dwyer. “The Healthy Community grant program is designed to help align the many groups and organizations that have a role in creating a healthy community.”   

The Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) is Maine’s largest, private, nonprofit health care foundation dedicated to promoting access to quality health care, especially for those who are uninsured and underserved, and improving the health of everyone in Maine. MeHAF uses its grant resources and expertise to identify and move forward key initiatives and issues to improve Maine’s health care system so people across every region of our state have access to quality care for better health. To learn more about MeHAF, visit www.mehaf.org.

The PRYMCA is a cause-driven organization that is committed to the community and dedicated to promoting healthy spirit, mind, and body for all, through programs and services grounded in Christian heritage and the core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. For more information on the Y’s programs and services call 564-7111 or visit www.prymca.org.