Growing Healthy
Collaborative Partners

Institute for Community Health (ICH)
www.icommmunityhealth.org

The lead agency for this proposal is situated within the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA). It is a collaboration between three Harvard teaching hospitals: Cambridge Health Alliance, CareGroup, and Partners HealthCare. ICH is dedicated to improving the health of Cambridge and Somerville through community based participatory research, assessment, dissemination and education activities. ICH has spent the last ten years developing relationships with city institutions, and building connections to area universities. Collaborative research projects have involved the Cambridge and Somerville Public Schools, local mental health providers, city agencies including the Health Departments of Cambridge and Somerville.

ICH brings to its work the unique advantage of leveraging the clout and infrastructure of three major healthcare systems while maintaining a non-aligned non-competitive niche in promoting community health. Access to computers, IT support, fiscal management and all other infrastructural support are available. With a current staff of nine, the ICH has received and managed federal and local grants and has analytic, epidemiologic and evaluation expertise.

The Cambridge Health Alliance is a public health care system that serves the residents of Cambridge, Everett, Somerville, and Boston’s Metro-North region. It is comprised of three hospitals located in each of the three communities and over 20 primary care sites, the Cambridge Public Health Department, and a statewide Medicaid managed care plan. It represents an integrated delivery system that serves all the communities targeted in this project.

Cambridge Food Service Department
http://www.cpsd.us/cpsdir/FoodServices.cfm
(617) 349-6858

Approximately 1400 elementary school children participate in the school breakfast program and about 3500 participate in the school lunch program. 39% of Cambridge students are eligible for free and reduced meal prices.

Somerville Food Service Department
http://www.somerville.k12.ma.us
(617) 625-6600 ext. 6082

The Somerville Food Service Department provides breakfast, lunch and snacks for 4010 elementary school students daily, 58% are eligible for the USDA free and reduced price meal program.

CitySprouts
www.citysprouts.org
jsmillie@citysprouts.org
(617) 491-0528

CitySprouts is a year-round garden program that partners with teachers and other educators to develop and utilize outdoor schoolyard classrooms. Their mission is to provide Cambridge public school communities with sustainable gardens that support the overall curriculum and inspire children to participate in the food cycle from seed to compost. In addition to curriculum-based programs, CitySprouts offers lunchtime garden clubs, after-school and summer programs. CitySprouts’ programs involve over 1,000 children in four public elementary schools. In May 2003, the city of Cambridge and MIT awarded CitySprouts the Cambridge First Day Award for environmental education of the city’s youth. CitySprouts is staffed by a full time director and four part-time garden coordinators.

Groundwork Somerville (GWS)
www.groundworksomerville.org
info@groundworksomerville.org
(617) 628.9988

Founded in 1999 by local residents, business owners, city agencies, community groups, and Tufts University, the GWS mission is to build sustainable communities through joint environmental action. GWS has four program areas: better connections/buffers among different land uses; environmental education; greenways; and waterfront access. GWS leads schoolyard revitalization projects, serves as coordinator of the Somerville Active Living Partnership and fiscal sponsor of the bicycle/pedestrian path project, and organizes planning for the planting and caring of neglected open spaces. GWS belongs to Groundwork USA, founded by the National Park Service and affiliated with Groundwork trusts in the United Kingdom.

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