history

Follow the Our Neighborhood, Our Health program from its inception to a healthier community.

2019

In 2019, community stakeholders invested in addressing social determinants of health came together to share their respective work and brainstorm innovative and effective ways to address health disparities and poor outcomes now and into the future. Corewell Health Healthier Communities, Calvin University, and the Kent County Health Department continued to meet to discuss implementing a place-based community-based participatory research model that built upon the community surveying work done by Calvin University over the last 20+ years. The aim was to create a new, collaborative model that fits the landscape of Grand Rapids neighborhoods with the possibility of scaling and building it across multiple neighborhoods to have a broad community-wide impact.

2021

In 2021, Corewell Health received funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to begin to implement a Community-Based Participatory Research Model, ultimately named Our Neighborhood, Our Health (ONOH), in the Roosevelt Park neighborhood in Grand Rapids, MI as a pilot.

Key Values of the project include trust, transparency, community-driven, sustainability, and collaboration.

2022

During the summer of 2022, the project team visited Rhode Island with funding from Invest Health to learn about their Health Equity Zones. This model introduced the concept of having a Backbone Organization with a leadership role in the project and presence in the neighborhood of focus. During 2022, the Community Advisory Board selected the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan as the Backbone Organization, who later contracted with KConnect to guide the process for identifying neighborhood health priorities and implementing solutions.

2023

From June 2023-June 2024, six Roosevelt Park organizations were funded to address neighborhood priorities of health, mental health, and public safety.  Additionally, the Community Advisory Board continued to meet, developing their mission, vision, and operations.  Year 2 of funding began for organizations in July 2024.

2024

During the summer of 2024, representatives from Corewell Health Healthier Communities, Calvin University, the Kent County Health Department, The Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, and members of the Community Advisory Board (renamed to the Roosevelt Park Wellness Collective) met to reflect on the pilot in Roosevelt Park and discuss the future of the model.  Moving forward, the Roosevelt Park Wellness Collective will continue to meet and serve as an advocacy group within the neighborhood.  Further, efforts will be taken to align future implementation with the Community Health Needs Assessment.

Refinement to the ONOH model in Roosevelt Park as well as expansion into other Grand Rapids neighborhoods is ongoing, with Corewell Health and the Kent County Health Department leading strategy and development.