Health

Focus Area: Health Equity

Goal: To improve health equity for Windham County residents by ensuring social position or socially-defined circumstances do not disadvantage anyone from attaining their full health potential.

Key partners: Healthcare providers, health equity practitioners and organizations.

Continue to support United Way of Windham County’s flagship program, the Windham County Dental Center, as it transitions to nonprofit status and continues service delivery through outreach, communication, and governance support.
 

Pursue and support funding for collaborative projects that advance community health equity goals.

Leverage lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic to drive progress towards health equity.

Oversee Denture Fund to provide financial support for people in need of dentures.
 

Explore and respond to opportunities to support community-driven initiatives focused on health equity.

Current Inititaitves

Tobacco Cessation Grant

A collaboration between State of Vermont, Department of Health and United Way of Windham County to use a community-led approach to address tobacco use, dependence and secondhand smoke among disparately affected populations and specific populations in Vermont. United Way of Windham County, in partnership with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will bring together the tobacco control and prevention framework outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Desired Outcomes:

  • Increasing understanding of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) youth experiences through focus groups, questionnaires, and/or stories to obtain social determinants of health information as it relates to tobacco use.
     
  • Decreasing the number of BIPOC students who smoke cigarettes for 20+ days from 47% to 44.7%.
     
  • Decreasing the number of BIPOC students who smoke at least half a pack a day will from 32% to 30.4%.
     
  • Decreasing cigarette initiation among BIPOC students trying cigarettes before the age of 13 from 20% to 19%.

BIPOC and LGBTQ Health Equity

We've committed to financially assisting NAACP to work towards the following outcomes: 

  • Partner with the State of Vermont on developing and delivering messaging related to vaccine safety and efficacy tailored for the specific population NAACP serves, with cultural sensitivity.
     
  • Provide technical assistance and consultation on equitable practices in COVID-19 vaccination implementation.
     
  • Assist with access to COVID-19 vaccination for the specific population the grantee serves. This may include assistance with recruitment, registration, and clinic planning.
     
  • Provide consultation to State on culturally sensitive, culturally appropriate, and trauma-informed COVID-19 vaccine efforts for priority communities.
     
  • Interviewing and messaging appropriate to targeted communities. 
     
  • Provide consultation to State on COVID-19 impact on the specific population the grantee serves.
     
  • When appropriate, provide stipends for community member engagement.
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