By Elizabeth Prom-Wormley
Welcome to the official Seventh District Health and Wellness Survey (SDHWS) blog! We would like to first and foremost thank the entire health and wellness team for your efforts in promoting healthy living as well as your dedication in endorsing our survey. We have made tremendous progress in the east end so far and at this stage of the research, we are in good standing thanks to the collaborative efforts of the entire team.
Our east end campaign begins in Creighton at the end of March. The Creighton neighborhood was successful in attracting participants with the help of recruiters and the time and effort it took to provide food and incentives. After 2 weeks of surveying and a successful bingo day at the rec center, we managed to obtain 139 completed surveys!
Our journey continues to the Tenant Council Office and the Resource Center in the Fairfield neighborhood from April 14 to April 25. On our first day of surveying, we managed to complete 33 surveys. We could not have accomplished this without the hospitality and help of the tenant council team. Fairfield also worked together to provide a fun day of tacos and dancing for their community. We ended with a total of 135 surveys in this location.
On April 30th, our survey team collaborated with the St. Stephen’s Koinonia Church to throw a fun day of family friendly activities with cooking lessons, zumba, and a big bouncy house for the kids. We would like to thank St. Stephen’s Church for allowing us to use their space to raise health awareness. For more information about this faith community, visit their WordPress page at: http://saintstephens.wordpress.com/
The Whitcomb neighborhood resource center celebrated their 4 year anniversary with free zumba and an all-day BBQ. Whitcomb had a big turn out for their field day. The youth group successfully worked together to plant a community garden during Whitcomb’s anniversary celebration field day. The survey team was also invited to collect data during their monthly council meeting and a relaxed day of Bingo.
Our time from May 26th to June 2nd was spent in Mosby Court. We collaborated with the tenant council to throw a Memorial Day celebration. It was our most successful event to date and it couldn’t have been done without the efforts of our neighborhood outreach coordinators. Mosby did a great job building anticipation and excitement which allowed us to reach our goal ahead of schedule.
Our survey collection team spent a fun community day outside for Richmond’s first Better Block project on June 14th. Better Block is an international effort to enrich communities by providing and building public amenities, transforming vacant building spaces, and promoting health. Our team had a fun day promoting health and wellness as well as supporting the 5k runners and program participants. To learn more about Better Block, follow this link: http://teambetterblock.com/richmond/
Throughout our data collection campaign, we have been working closely with the 31st Baptist Church. The church honored us and allowed us to briefly recruit participants during their Sunday worship service and while their nutrition center provides services to residents. To find out more about the 31st Baptist Church and their worshiping community, browse their website at http://31sbc.org/
Finally we will end our journey in the greater Fulton area by the end of August. Our projected estimate of completed surveys by the end of our campaign should be near 1000. With your help and dedication we can make this a reality.
The team is currently planning a “Datapalooza” event to take place in November. This event will bring residents, community organization leaders, and volunteer data analysts together to review the data and plan future steps for health and wellness in the East End.
Your help is always welcomed! We love working with enthusiastic and driven individuals. Volunteers and small gift donations will be tremendously helpful.
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