Feb. 8, 2024
Marshfield Clinic Center for Community Health Advancement (CCHA) will use a $500,000 grant to improve food security for children and families in northern rural Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health awarded CCHA the grant as it gave $3.5 million in community grants to seven new initiatives through its Community Impact Grant Program.
CCHA's initiative, Feeding the Whole Child, Whole Family, and Whole Community through Civic Engagement, will partner with youth serving and community-based organizations to address childhood hunger within their own organizations, and to address hunger on the local/community level. Specifically, the focus will be on the four pillars of food security: availability of healthy foods, access to healthy foods, knowledge about preparation and stability of diet. The funds will be used over three years working with:
- YMCA of the Northwoods (Rhinelander and Park Falls)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northwoods – Antigo
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Barron County – Rice Lake
- South Wood County YMCA – Nekoosa
- Stevens Point Area YMCA
- Boys & Girls Club of Portage County – Stevens Point
“This is an example of Marshfield Clinic Health System listening to our communities and community-based organizations on their most pressing issues," said Jay Shrader, Vice President, Community Impact and Social Accountability. “We will work hand-in-hand with the organizations and communities to enhance and expand their current efforts in addressing hunger. We are thankful to the WPP for investing in us and our communities."
The grant awards provide support for innovative community-academic partnerships to improve community health, health care, and advance health equity in a wide range of communities across Wisconsin. Maggie Bohm-Jordan, Ph.D., Department of Sociology and Social Work, at UW–Stevens Point, will serve as the academic partner.
The grant recipients are providing rigorous community-led approaches to address critical community health needs including access to health care, expanding the public safety workforce, youth health and well-being, food security, civic engagement and economic stability.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program is a grantmaking program within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health committed to improving health and advancing health equity through investments community partnerships and education and research initiatives.
