Background
Community Transformation Grants (CTG), awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are funded under the Affordable Care Act.
The grants are designed to help states and communities tackle the root causes of chronic disease such as smoking, poor diet and lack of physical activity, with an additional focus is on reducing health disparities among lower–income Americans, racial and ethnic minorities, and other under-served populations that often have higher rates of disease
MAPC collaborated with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to write the community transformation grant proposal on behalf of Middlesex County in Massachusetts, and was awarded $1,574,982 in September 2011.
MAPC’s role
MAPC will assist with program coordination of the CTG program in Middlesex County primarily by providing grant coordination and technical assistance. We will manage some subcontracts directly, including those to youth interventions, clinical interventions, mini-grants to communities and some technical assistance providers.
MDPH and MAPC are working together to design and implement the CTG by filling in the gap of county-level public health infrastructure in Massachusetts.
This work supports MetroFuture goals for Community Vitality in our region.
The grant funds projects in the following program areas:
Healthy Eating
Safe and Healthy Environments
Active Living
- Opening aqueduct trails for public use
- Safe Routes to School
- Mystic River walking routes
Clinical Healthy services
(Coming soon)
Tobacco-free living
(Coming soon)
Why it’s important
Middlesex County has more smokers, obese residents, and adults with diabetes than any other county in Massachusetts. These disease burdens and risk factors are disproportionately concentrated in low-income, minority and immigrant communities.
Some of the funds from the CTG will go towards expanding the Mass in Motion program in Middlesex county. This will involve local policy and environmental change activities, such as
- Increasing accessibility, & affordability of healthful foods
- Adopting comprehensive approaches to community design to enhance walking, bicycling and active transportation
- Establishing community design standards to make streets safe for all users including pedestrians, bicyclists and users of public transit
The grant will help reduce death and disability in the county from health-related factors such as obesity, smoking, heart disease and stroke. Work will focus on expanding efforts in tobacco-free living, active living and healthy eating, quality clinical and other preventive services.
It will also support social and emotional wellness and healthy and safe physical environments, including initiatives for youth violence prevention through the Metro Mayors Shannon Grant.
Additional resources
In the news
- Middlesex County Gets Nearly $1.6 Million to Fight Health Risks
- Arlington to Get a Piece of $1.57 M Health Grant
Questions?
For more information about the Middlesex County Community Transformation Grant, contact Public Health Planner Lola Omolodun at [email protected], or Public Health Manager Barry Keppard at [email protected].