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Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Blog

  • Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Transition Back to Life in Harlem

    Posted by Eugene Schneeberg on June 26, 2012 at 4:04 PM EDT

    As the keynote speaker, I had the honor and privilege of representing the White House Office of Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships at the Harlem Parole Reentry Graduation last week. The graduation event celebrated the accomplishment of formerly incarcerated individuals as they successfully transitioned back to their neighborhoods after receiving community-based services and intensive monitoring from the program.

    Thirty-eight formerly incarcerated individuals shared the proud moment together as they took the first steps to rise above becoming a statistic. As the Parole Reentry Court’s website explains, graduates of the program are less likely to be re-convicted than formerly incarcerated individuals on standard parole—a rate of 19 percent lower, to be exact.

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  • Confronting High Blood Pressure Through Public-Private Partnerships

    Posted by Acacia Bamberg Salatti on June 21, 2012 at 6:15 PM EDT

    Acacia Bamberg Salatti at AMEC Health Commission Launch

    Acacia Bamberg Salatti addresses a group of faith, community, health, and business leaders at AMEC Manage BP launch.

    Heart disease and stroke are the first and fourth leading causes of death in the United States, respecitvely. Responsible for 1 of every 3 deaths in the country, heart disease is an even greater risk in the African American community. Although African American adults are 40% more likely to have high blood pressure, they are 10% less likely than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to have their blood pressure under control.

    To help reduce this health disparity, Manage BP with AMEChealth.org is the African American Episcopal Church (AMEC) Health Commission’s groundbreaking hypertension prevention initiative. Designed to leverage technology to reduce hypertension rates and to improve health outcomes, the program utilizes the church’s web-based platform—www.amechealth.org—to deliver health education messages, disseminate health information, collect patient-generated data, and provide peer support.

    The Manage BP with AMEChealth.org campaign will initially involve 10 AME churches in the New York City metropolitan area and will reach more than 20,000 congregants. The launch is just the beginning of a larger program, which will expand to include 4,000 AME churches across the nation.

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  • Together for Tomorrow

    Posted by Michael Robbins on June 21, 2012 at 11:20 AM EDT

    We've been overwhelmed with the positive response to our Together for Tomorrow (TFT) initiative, which is advancing community partnerships to propel school improvement. TFT is being led by the U.S. Department of Education, working with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

    Since we launched TFT at the end of February, we've had hundreds of people join us for local TFT Town Halls, where we spotlight examples of effective school-community partnerships and help catalyze new efforts. Community and faith organizations, schools, and others are embracing the vision of TFT: to celebrate and inspire community and family engagement in education; strengthen the capacity of low-performing schools to manage partnerships; and focus partnerships on the ABCs - Attendance, Behavior, Course performance, and College access.

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  • An Open Letter to Fathers

    Posted by Bob Perciasepe on June 19, 2012 at 6:44 PM EDT

    It's a great time to be a dad.

    I don't say that because this Sunday was Father's Day, though I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been looking forward to it. Being a dad is so important today because it's an opportunity to empower the next generation of men and women to conquer whatever challenges may face them. It's an opportunity to help shape their future.

    When fathers aren’t a part of their lives, kids are more likely to get involved in harmful and destructive activities like drug use and crime. On the other hand, giving children the paternal support they need helps them grow into confident, capable and healthy men and women.

    All children deserve solid father figures in their lives, but far too many don't have them. President Obama, whose own father was absent for much of his childhood, understands that. That's why he created the Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative to celebrate fatherhood and create meaningful opportunities for fathers and children – and adult mentors and young mentees – to connect.

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  • Community Health Centers: Expanding Access to Care in Underserved Areas

    Posted by Lisa Carr on June 19, 2012 at 6:14 PM EDT

    The C.W. Williams Community Health Center in Charlotte, North Carolina was created in 1981 when local leaders Peggy Beckwith, founder of the local Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation; Dr. John Murphy, a local dentist; and Rowe "Jack" Motley, the first African-American county Commissioner, filled out an application to create a community health center.   Mr. Motley drove to Washington, D.C. to submit their application. Their application was accepted and the C.W. Williams Community Health Center was created.

    C.W. Williams Community Health Center

    C.W. Williams Executive Director Beverly Irby, Dr Everlyn Hall-Baker, Alexia Kelley, Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and Dr. Joann Parris. (Photo by Dwayne Gross)

    On May 3, 2012, Alexia Kelley, Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships visited the C.W. Williams Community Health Center. She shared the news that a total of $730 million was being awarded across the country to community health centers, and that C.W. Williams Center had been awarded $500,000 to create a dental clinic. Dentists are in short supply in North Carolina and ranks 47th in dentist-to-population ratio. The new funding will greatly expand access to care.

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  • Helping to Provide a Healthy Start for Children

    Posted by Acacia Bamberg Salatti on June 19, 2012 at 4:45 PM EDT

    Ten years ago, a federal report listed Memphis as the city with the highest rate of infant mortality in the country. In certain neighborhoods, the quantity of infant deaths paralleled infant death rates in Third World countries. Those statistics underscore the issue of health disparities in vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities in the Memphis community; however, that health crisis is also providing opportunities for innovative partnerships with faith, community, health, and government leaders in the state of Tennessee.

    One promising example is the First Ladies for Healthy Babies Network, which is an initiative through the Neighborhood Christian Center. Within the African American community, if the pastor of the church is male, his wife is often given the term “First Lady” as a gesture of honor and respect. Understanding the integral role that faith leaders play as trusted messengers in their communities, the First Ladies for Healthy Babies Network engages First Ladies and other female leaders in the congregation to mentor young women and to actively refer moms of children 0 – 3 to NCC’s early childhood and parent/caregiver program.

    Volunteers from Memphis’ Operation Smart Child

    Tennessee’s First Lady Mrs. Crissy Haslam and President/CEO of Neighborhood Christian Center Ephie Johnson pose with volunteers from Memphis’ Operation Smart Child Program.

    In 2009, NCC formally launched Operation Smart Child (OSC), an evidence based program designed in partnership with the Urban Child Institute, to improve brain and social skills development in children from conception to four.  The goal of this joint effort is to drive the behavioral change of caregivers of children 0-4 in targeted neighborhoods by educating them on early childhood brain development.  Translating the science of nurturing the brain in early childhood into usable touch points for parents and caregivers is a critical first step to prepare a child for a lifetime of learning. Along with the” First Ladies for Healthy Babies” mentoring component, FLHB is a direct support network for Memphis’ Operation Smart Child Program.

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