PETOSKEY: Michigan has some of the highest obesity rates in the nation, with roughly a third of Michigan children considered overweight or obese. Close to home, the northwest Michigan region is significantly high.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 12.7 million of U.S. children and adolescents aged 2 – 19 are obese. (Obesity is classified as Body Mass Index (BMI) above the 95th percentile.)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Spectrum Health and Priority Health are among a handful of service providers – and the only ones in Michigan — chosen for a nationwide health initiative that brings together private, public and nonprofit sectors.
The Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, a national nonprofit and a grantee of the Social Innovation Fund’s Pay for Success program, and the Calvert Foundation announced on Tuesday, May 19, that five recipients will participate in their regional Pay for Success projects.
Today, the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), a grantee of the Social Innovation Fund’s (SIF) Pay for Success program, and its collaboration partner Calvert Foundation, selected five service providers to participate in regional Pay for Success (PFS) projects. These awardees, selected by GHHI through a national competition, will work in collaboration with local health care organizations to conduct feasibility studies of PFS models that fund home-based asthma interventions, including remediation of asthma triggers and resident education.
Inside a converted fruit warehouse near the Grand River in Grand Rapids sit several specialists on the front lines of ensuring that young children get a healthy start in life.
They work for Health Net of West Michigan, a nonprofit community healthcare hub that connects families with doctors and other community services in the Grand Rapids area. One of Health Net’s primary tasks seems simple at first glance – making sure low-income children have a primary care physician.
Grand Rapids GiveCamp recently produced an exhausting and successful weekend for 15 nonprofits and the tech community.
From its humble beginnings on Cherry Street to becoming the largest federally qualified health center in the state, Cherry Street Health Services is holding on to its roots while changing its name.
Volunteers from area IT firms used their skills to help non-profit organizations during Grand Rapids’ GiveCamp. A weekend-long hackathon, the event paired teams of software developers, designers and other IT workers with projects proposed by non-profits. Teams worked closely with clients to create websites, applications and databases over the 51-hour event held in the offices of Open Systems Technologies (OST).
Fifteen area non-profits, providing services ranging from sterilizing stray cats to teaching girls how to code, participated in GiveCamp this year. Many organizations, including Health Net of West Michigan and the Kent County Parks Foundation, asked for help redesigning their websites and social media presences. The Otsego County Commision on Aging proposed a system to coordinate, schedule and log in-home assistance for the elderly.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Community engagement efforts to improve health are the focus of the Alliance for Health First Friday forum on Oct. 3.
The monthly meeting will highlight organizations that seek to reach marginalized populations, the uninsured and under-insured, and that address social, cultural, psychological and biological forces that affect lifestyles. Organizations taking part include LINC Community Revitalization, Health Net of West Michigan and the African American Health Institute.