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Date: 7/19/2022
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY – Collaborative Educational Services (CES), the nonprofit educational service agency based in Northampton, is a recent recipient of a Mass in Motion grant, part of a statewide program that increases access to healthy, affordable food and safe physical activity.
CES is receiving the grant money through Healthy Hampshire, which is a regional initiative focused on improving people’s health in Hampshire County and the Hilltowns by collaborating with municipal leaders, elected officials, public health departments, planners, businesses, community organizations and residents.
According to Caitlin Marquis, the Healthy Hampshire program manager at CES, the Mass in Motion grant allows CES to receive $110,752 a year over the next 10 years to work with 19-plus communities in Hampshire County and the Hilltowns. The money will help CES work on policy, systems and environmental changes that increase access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity.
“The world of changes we can work toward is very broad, but we are required to center racial equity and address the social determinants of health as we work toward the ultimate goals of supporting food access and physical activity,” Marquis told Reminder Publishing.
The communities who have already signed on and have the ability to partner with CES right away on this initiative are Amherst, Belchertown, Blandford, Chester, Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Northampton, Pelham, South Hadley, Southampton, Ware, Westhampton, Williamsburg, and Worthington.
Organizational partners who have signed on to the possibility of working with CES include the Amherst Survival Center, Community Action of the Pioneer Valley, Cooley Dickinson Health Care, Grow Food Northampton, the Hilltown Community Development Corporation, the Hilltown Community Health Centers, the Hampshire Regional YMCA, the Northampton Survival Center, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation.
According to Marquis, their approach to working with these communities will build on the governance structure they have formed around the Hampshire County Food Policy Council, which was launched with support from Healthy Hampshire.
“The council uses a governance method called ‘sociocracy,’ meaning that it is comprised of a network of circles that are all connected to one another, and each have their own domain of decision-making,” said Marquis. “This will give partners a format for organizing around the issues that are important to them while being supported by Healthy Hampshire staff.”
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is requiring all Mass in Motion grantees to conduct a needs assessment and a root cause analysis. According to Marquis, these will be the first steps in the process, and all strategies on which they work with partners will go from there.
According to information provided by the state, Mass in Motion supports municipal governments, community-based organizations, and residents working together to address barriers to good health. Local grant recipients bring on partners to implement solutions that will ensure Massachusetts residents have access to healthy, affordable foods and opportunities for safe physical activity, making them less vulnerable to disease. The Baker-Polio administration provided $1.1 million in grants to 42 cities and towns across the commonwealth.