Att 4 - ACA Funded Communities

Communities Putting Prevention to Work
Phase Two Funding / Affordable Care Act

Community Initiative
Alabama Department of Health: Mobile County
$3 Million for tobacco prevention
The Alabama Department of Health will coordinate population based approaches to reduce
smoking initiation and exposure to second hand smoke through the efforts of Mobile County,
Alabama.
Mobile County, Alabama
http://www.mobilecountyhealth.org/
The Alabama Communities Putting Prevention to Work project will address tobacco prevention
efforts in Mobile County. Working with the Mobile Children’s Policy Council, the Coalition for
a Tobacco Free Mobile, and the Mobile Leadership Team, the program will implement a media
campaign to educate Mobile citizens about the health benefits of clean, smoke-free indoor air
and promote existing cessation services. The project will also educate decision makers about the
public health impact of comprehensive smoke free policies. Mobile County will work with
tobacco retailers to restrict point of purchase tobacco advertising and will support systems
change in worksites and schools by increasing the availability of cessation services and tobaccofree environments. The intent of these systems and policy approaches is to reduce exposure to
secondhand smoke, reduce social acceptability of tobacco use, and increase cessation attempts by
tobacco users.
Arkansas Department of Health: City of North Little Rock and Independence County
http://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/
$2.3 Million for obesity prevention
The Arkansas Department of Health plans to coordinate population-based approaches to
nutrition, physical activity and obesity through policy, systems and environmental change with
efforts by one small city, North Little Rock and one small rural community, Independence
County.
City of North Little Rock, Arkansas
The City of North Little Rock will enter a strategic collaboration with the North Little Rock
School District, which will facilitate implementation of the Fit-2-Live Challenge, a
comprehensive community-wide wellness program. The Fit-2-Live Challenge employs a multilayered approach to impact the policies, systems and environments that shape health, and
challenges individuals, their interpersonal support networks, and their broader communities

(work, neighborhood, faith community), which convey constraints and communicate values
regarding healthy lifestyles. The program hopes to influence community leaders and the
organizations they serve as well as policy makers at all levels of community life to promote
policies that encourage the adoption of healthy eating and healthy lifestyle behaviors.
Independence County, Arkansas
In Independence County a community based health coalition representing eight small rural
communities will partner with area schools to implement the CATCH (Coordinated Approach To
Child Health) program. One measure of success will be the adoption of a policy to lower prices
of healthier foods and beverages relative to the cost of less healthier foods sold in vending
machines, cafeterias, and concession stands in schools, early childhood centers and healthcare
facilities. Other community strategies will include improving healthy food and drink choices,
improving product placement and pricing of healthy foods, providing social support for healthy
choices, media promotions for physical activity, and improving access to physical activity
facilities and opportunities.
Children’s Memorial Hospital / City of Chicago, Illinois
http://www.childrensmemorial.org/
$5.8 Million for obesity prevention
Children's Memorial Hospital is the bona fide agent of the City of Chicago. Through this
initiative Chicago aims to improve access to healthy food and safe opportunities for physical
activity at the city and neighborhood level. Policy and environmental change strategies will aim
to improve childcare environments, provide safer access to the city's parks, increase retail
options available for healthy food purchasing, and help develop tools to integrate urban
agriculture and other forms of food production into city and open-space planning across the city,
which will ensure equal access to healthy foods for all Chicagoans. A public media campaign
will encourage Chicago residents to make healthier choices in conjunction with the
environmental changes that will facilitate such choices. Point-of-purchase strategies in
restaurants throughout the city will encourage healthy food choices among consumers. Breastfeeding and use of public transportation will also be encouraged through a number of messaging
strategies.
DeKalb County Board of Health, Georgia
http://www.dekalbhealth.net/
$2.35 Million for obesity prevention
The DeKalb County Putting Prevention to Work initiative will work with community partners
and local government officials to create a Master Active Living Plan (Plan). The Plan will
include a policy that will allow neighborhood residents access to school recreational facilities
affording them easy access to places for physical activity, and establishing community vegetable
gardens in local parks. These changes will make it easier for children and adults to eat healthier
and be more physically active. The goals of these CPPW initiatives include achieving (1)

increased physical activity, (2) improving nutrition; and (3) decreasing overweight/obesity
prevalence. The interventions will strive to reduce the burden of chronic disease, reduce health
disparities and improve public health across the lifespan of DeKalb residents and will be adapted
as necessary to meet the diverse cultural and linguistic needs of our community.
North Carolina Division of Public Health: Appalachian District and Pitt County
$3.7 Million for obesity prevention
The North Carolina Division of Public Health (NC DPH) received $3.7 million to address
obesity in two rural areas of the state. NC DPH will work with the Appalachian District Health
Department a three-county health district serving Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties in
western North Carolina, and the Pitt County Health Department in eastern North Carolina.
Appalachian District, North Carolina
http://www.apphealth.com/
The Appalachian District Health District (ADHD) will strive to increase the community’s access
to healthy foods and support policy changes in schools and work places to promote nutrition and
physical activity. To increase access to healthy foods, ADHD will recruit local farmers in each
county and will develop farmer incentives to support the development of community gardens.
ADHD will oversee the marketing and organization of the resulting produce distribution. ADHD
will recruit volunteers to oversee garden organization, volunteer recruitment, and support for
gardeners and will provide special event coordination for the project. The school/workplace
policy interventions will focus on partnerships. In collaboration with a local coalition,
Alleghany and Ashe County Healthy Carolinians, ADHD will participate in the Healthy Hospital
Initiative to implement workplace breastfeeding and employee physical activity policies. ADHD
will also collaborate with school districts in efforts to ensure that youth get a minimum of 30-60
minutes of daily physical activity.
Pitt County, North Carolina
http://www.pittcountync.gov/depts/health/
The Pitt County Health Department (PCHD) will strive to improve access to nutritious food
through The Corner Store Initiative, which is centered on increasing access and availability of
healthy food/drink, improving product placement and attractiveness, and changing the relative
prices of healthy vs. unhealthy items in convenience stores. PCHD also plans to collaborate with
three cities to develop point of decision making signage to encourage physical activity. PCHD
also proposes to partner with state and local entities to develop the necessary infrastructure to
support Safe Routes to Schools. In addition, the community will build upon established
partnerships with local planning agencies and transportation officials to develop and place
signage within communities to point out public parks, other recreational opportunities, and the
availability of bike lanes and alternate forms of travel.

Pinellas County Health Department, Florida
http://www.pinellashealth.com/
$4.85 Million for obesity prevention
The Pinellas County Health Department will strive to implement community-wide policies,
systems, and environmental changes that will engage leadership in county/city government,
Pinellas County Schools, businesses, community and faith-based organizations, community
developers, transportation and land use planners, pre/afterschool programs, and several
community-based coalitions. Key program activities include: assigning a team of nutrition and
physical activity consultants to child care centers, restaurants, worksites and other agencies to
provide effective, sustainable methods to promote healthy behaviors in nutrition and physical
activity with an emphasis on limiting unhealthy food choices. The program will also work with
media-buying contractors to develop and refine an extensive media-buy strategy collaborating
with CDC and other national partners to promote active behaviors and healthy eating. The
program includes a strong focus on the needs of populations who suffer disproportionately from
the burden of disease.
Santa Clara County Public Health Department, California
http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/phd/
$3.6 Million for obesity prevention
The obesity prevention initiative will strive to promote safe and active transit (bicycling and
walking) through adoption of Complete Streets and Safe Routes to Schools policies designed to
create inviting and livable communities. The initiative will also promote the decreased
consumption of sugar-drinks through expansion of the Rethink Your Drink campaign. The
Rethink Your Drink Campaign is designed to move people’s focus from high calorie sodas and
fruit drinks as beverage choices to healthier alternatives such as water, milk, or 100% fruit juice
beverages. Another component of the obesity initiative is improved access to healthy foods
through food and beverage policies. The Santa Clara County Public Health Department will
collaborate with both public and private sector stakeholders in an effort to help develop policies
that will provide more opportunities for healthier eating. The impact of this initiative will move
the county closer to being a model community of healthy living.
Southern Nevada Health District, Nevada
http://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/
$3.8 Million for obesity prevention
Located in Clark County, Nevada the project will be managed by the Southern Nevada Health
District (SNHD) Chronic Disease Prevention Program. SNHD will work with community
partners and its leadership team to implement specific policy and environmental change
strategies including establishing physical activity and healthy eating policies in child care centers
and after-school programs, expanding the Safe Routes to Schools programs and promotion of

healthy versus less healthy foods in worksites, restaurants, convenience stores and community
locations. These changes are intended to create a supportive environment and provide social
support to residents in their efforts to be physically active and eat healthy. Program interventions
and strategies will impact all age groups in multiple sectors of the community.

States and Territories Competitive Special Policy and Environmental Change Initiative

South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
http://www.scdhec.gov/
$1.6 Million for obesity prevention
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control received $1.6 million for a
statewide obesity, physical activity, and nutrition program. South Carolina will pilot a statewide
Farm to School program. Key objectives include developing and maintaining an infrastructure to
support local implementation of farm to school programs. With approximately 1100 public
schools in South Carolina, school meals are a lifeline for many children, especially low-income
children. Each day the state’s schools serve approximately 733,000 meals and provide
opportunities for those students to learn about healthy nutrition and the importance of agriculture
to South Carolina. Systems leveling approaches, like Farm to School programs, have the
potential to impact not only the student population and school staff, but also the surrounding
communities. Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables can build healthy children, schools,
farms and communities and in the long term will reduce obesity and obesity-related chronic
diseases.