The people of Louisiana face unique and complex challenges. The state's poorest citizens have confronted obstacles to preventive and acute healthcare, access to healthy food options and safe places to exercise. The devastation by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 worsened these problems, as the most vulnerable populations were hardest hit.
The Mid-South TCC plays an integral role in facilitating the efforts of community organizations working to building a healthier Louisiana. In conjunction with academic partners at Louisiana State University (LSU) and Dillard University, these community organizations have developed new approaches to combat health disparities.
Dillard University Community Partnerships
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as some of New Orleans' poorest residents found themselves without access to healthcare, Dillard University on hand to establish health clinics for the Lower 9th Ward. With support from the Mid-South TCC, Dillard University facilitated a health education and wellness model that set the foundation for additional programs that have been expanded to six New Orleans neighborhoods.Sankofa Healthy Food Hub
The Sankofa Community Development Corporation was founded as New Orleans began rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina. Addressing the food deserts in New Orleans, Sankofa established a Healthy Food Hub to provide fresh produce via a mobile farmer's market and a community garden. With support from the Mid-South TCC, Sankofa is working to grow and assess programs that they can build into policy to have a bigger impact on their community. Read about Sankofa's project in a blog from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Rapides Foundation
With its comprehensive interactive community health resource map, the Rapides Foundation put tools for healthy and active living in the hands of the people of Central Louisiana. This project, supported by the Mid-South TCC, maps walking trails, exercise facilities, playgrounds, fitness stations, community gardens, and farmers markets in Central Louisiana. This map also serves as an assessment tool for the Rapides Foundation, helping them identify service gaps. www.rapidesfoundation.orgREACH Net
The newest member of the Mid-South TCC Louisiana Coalition is Research Action for Health Network (REACHnet.) This innovative, shared health database project is underway at the Louisiana Public Health Institute. Using Electronic Health Records (EHR) from a number of the states primary healthcare providers, the Mid-South TCC will help geocode neighborhood of residence information in the EHR and help build a nested database that will generate the multilevel analyses essential to identifying the role of social determinants of health at the neighborhood level.Louisiana Community Partners
- Bethany United Methodist Church
- Cooking Matters, Second Harvest Food Bank
- Daughters of Charity Foundation
- Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans
- Dillard University Office of Community Relations
- Edgewood Park Neighborhood Association
- Fairmont Park Neighborhood Association
- Garden Neighborhood Association
- First Grace United Methodist Church
- Fit NOLA, City of New Orleans Health Department
- Fresh Central
- Gentilly Heights East Neighborhood Association
- Healthy Start New Orleans, City of New Orleans Health Department
- Historic St. James A.M.E. Church
- Hollygrove Market and Farm
- Holy Cross Lutheran Church
- Indian Springs Farmers Cooperative, Southern Federation of Cooperatives
- Louisiana Public Health Institute
- Lower Ninth Ward Senior Citizens Center
- New Hope Baptist Church
- Paris Oaks Neighborhood Association
- Pentecost Baptist Church
- Pilotland Neighborhood Association
- Pontchartrain Park Neighborhood Association - Ms. Gretchen Bradford
- Progressive Baptist Church
- Rapides Foundation
- Sankofa Community Development Corporation
- Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System
- Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association
- Ugly Mug Marketing
- Union Bethel A.M.E. Church
- Virgil Park Neighborhood Association
