Hester Street (HST) worked with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the East Harlem District Public Health Office (EH DPHO) on their Health and the Built Environment Initiative. The initiative supported ongoing work of the EH DPHO, as well as leveraged recommendations from the East Harlem Neighborhood Plan to recruit and train a cohort of local residents to serve on an East Harlem Health in Action Panel. The Panel evaluated and selected 10 local community organizations to receive Health in Action Grants to address needs in the health needs in the community ranging from healthy eating, active lifestyles, access to medical care and youth programs using a participatory process.
HST assisted the EH DPHO and other project partners in analyzing the most relevant EHNP recommendations, developing background materials and evaluation score cards for the Health in Action Panel process. The Panel process culminated in a community wide Health in Action Summit attended by over 200 residents, where finalists for the grants presented and the selected grantees were announced. HST created and coordinated the user friendly displays, programs and other graphic materials for the Summit. Following the Summit, HST is supporting ED DPHO in reporting about each of the grantees and understanding and measuring their impact.