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Healthy Communities Initiative
A Center of Excellence in Collaboration:
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Allentown Neighborhood, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, and Fruit Belt Neighborhood
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BNMC staff worked with neighborhood leaders in the Fruit Belt and Allentown to assemble a community-based, interdisciplinary partnership to apply for funds to promote physical activity. The proposal – called the Healthy Communities Initiative – was one of 966 submitted to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Active Living by Design program. The applicant pool represents the largest ever received by the foundation. The Buffalo-based partnership has been awarded one of 25 available grants.
The Healthy Communities Initiative will receive $200,000 over the next five years to create, enhance and promote environments that make it safe and convenient for BNMC institution employees and neighborhood residents to be more physically active.
The first year will concentrate on solidifying the partnership, clarifying expectations and responsibilities, and assessing the current state of both the infrastructure throughout the target area as well as policies that impact physical activity.
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The Allentown neighborhood, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and the Fruit Belt neighborhood are collaborating to cultivate an oasis of active living in the heart of Buffalo, NY.
The partnership consists of a diverse and interdisciplinary cross section of institutions, organizations and individuals that can positively impact the incorporation of physical activity in the daily lives of residents and employees. It includes - among others - clinical care organizations, research institutions, faith-based institutions, residents, health promotion agencies, businesses, community organizations, and transportation planning agencies.
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The Healthy Communities Initiative focuses on an emerging urban medical campus, and the traditionally underserved neighborhoods adjacent to it - Allentown to the west and the Fruit Belt to the east.
• Improve and develop the neglected infrastructure in the neighborhoods, and reinforce linkages to the medical campus
• Enhance the open space network for pedestrians and cyclists
• Implement a targeted promotional strategy to foster physical activity and promote wellness for both neighbors and employees
• Build upon ArtWalk, a series of walking routes throughout the medical campus and the two neighborhoods using art and cultural installations as inducements for pedestrian activity
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• Environmental and social change resulting in increased physical activity and enhanced quality of life
• Increased social capital/more interactive communities
• Improved health status of residents and employees
• Lower health care costs for institutions and the community
• Higher quality infrastructure that promotes physical activity and downtown living
• Community empowerment/leadership development
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Allentown
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BNMC |
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Fruit Belt |
• 3,745 residents
• 62.9% white
• 23.8% black
• 12.8% Hispanic or Latino
• 51.8% commuting to work (driving alone)
• 20.4% commuting to work (walking)
• $21,347 median household income
• 28.1% below poverty level |
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• 8,000 Employees
• 6% from Allentown
• 36% from Fruit Belt
• 200 PhDs
• 100 acres
• $600 million in annual expenditures
• Approximately $300 million in annual net economic impact
• Over 750,000 annual patient visits
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• 5,180 residents
• 5.5% white
• 91.1% black
• 2.5% Hispanic or Latino
• 51.4% commuting to work (driving alone)
• 5.1% commuting to work (walking)
• $22,991 median household income
• 36.1% below poverty level
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Link to Healthy Communities Initiative page at Active Living by Design
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Active Living by Design is a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is based at the School of Public Health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. More information about Active Living by Design can be found at www.activelivingbydesign.org.
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. For more information, go to www.rwjf.org.
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