Site Search
- resource provided by the Forum Network Knowledgebase.
Search Tip: Search with " " to find exact matches.
Newark to Offer Affordable, Healthier Food Options for Residents
Through the office of the Newark Philanthropic Liaison, CNJG recently had the opportunity to convene a group of funders with the Brick City Development Corporation (BCDC), a nonprofit that is working with the City of Newark to improve access to fresh, affordable foods for Newark residents.
BCDC's Fresh Foods Program Farm Stand Initiative will link New Jersey farmers with 11 Family Success Centers located at public housing developments and nonprofit agencies. Operated by BCDC, the initiative will expand Newarkers’ access to fruits and vegetables, increase use of WIC Farmers’ Market Vouchers and Food Stamps, and educate residents about the benefits of nutrition and physical activity.
Newark’s 283,000 residents currently have little access to nutritious, affordable fresh fruits and vegetables. Only three full-size supermarkets operate in the city, and Newark residents report a scarcity in supermarkets stocked with nutritious food products. The South and West Wards, the city’s most underserved neighborhoods, are not served by full-sized supermarkets or farmers’ markets.
Lack of fresh foods access is linked to troubling statistics for individuals of color and low-income individuals. A multi-state study found that wealthy neighborhoods have over three times as many supermarkets as low-wealth neighborhoods, and predominantly white neighborhoods have four times as many supermarkets as predominantly black neighborhoods. Nationwide about 44% of Latino and 40% of African American youth are overweight, and obesity rates are three times above average in low-income districts. The State of New Jersey has the highest rate of obesity in 2-5 year old children in the country, and about 56% of its residents are at risk for obesity-related illness. In 2004 the City of Newark WIC Program found that 18.2% of children under age 2 were overweight, higher than both the national average of 13.6% and state average of 16.8%. Similarly, 20.8% of children over age 2 were found to be overweight.
When grocery stores and other fresh-food retailers, such as farmers’ markets, are present, they have a direct impact on residents’ patterns of consumption: a 2002 study found that black Americans’ fruit and vegetable intake increased by 32% for each additional supermarket in the census tract. Farmers’ markets have an even more dramatic effect: another study found that women who had access to farmers’ markets consumed more fruits and vegetables than women who had access only to supermarkets.
BCDC anticipates launching the Fresh Foods Program Farm Stand Initiative in the spring of 2009.
CNJG’s community foundation services (through the United Philanthropy Forum) breakdown into three categories:
1. a national listserv for CEOs
2. two in-person boot camp trainings
3. discount on the On-Line CF Express Training
National Listserv for Community Foundation CEOs
CNJG’s listserve for Community Foundation CEOs connects to a national listserv for the CEOs of community foundations. This active listserve allows community foundation CEOs to communicate easily via email with community foundation CEOs from across the country, to pose questions, engage in conversations and more. The service is being made available to our community foundations members as a benefit of your membership with CNJG and is operated by the Untied Philanthropy Forum, which is CNJG’s national network.
If you are interested in participating in this national community foundation listserve, please contact Craig Weinrich.
Community Foundation Boot Camps
The United Philanthropy Forum offers two or more Community Foundation Boot Camps a year that are made available to CNJG members at the member rate as a benefit of CNJG membership. The two-day Community Foundation Boot Camp program offers a comprehensive overview of the structure and operations of a community foundation. The program is an ideal in-depth introduction to community foundations for new community foundation staff, community foundation board members, or more experienced community foundation staff looking for a good refresher.
On-Line CF Express Training
The Forum is partnering with Kansas Association of Community Foundations (KACF) to offer a $400 discount on KACF’s On-Line CF Express Training. The online training and certificate program focuses on core essentials over a 15-module series that covers nearly every aspect of community foundation work: from asset development and quality grants programs design to fiduciary and policy matters. Plus, enjoy 24-hour-access to the easy-to-navigate short (5-15 min) modules in any order from the comfort of a home or an office, in private, or as a group training.
Watch the CF Express Training Promo Video and view a sample module (password: mod15) to learn more. To take advantage of the discount, sign-up at https://cfexpresstraining.com and enter discount code: Forum2018. You can also reference the following attachments for more details.
This advocacy and civic engagement toolkit is designed for private foundations that want to educate and encourage their grantees about getting involved in civic and policy activities to increase organizational capacity and impact. While its primary focus is on the grantmaking activity of foundations, the toolkit also addresses rules and guidance for policy involvement by foundation officials acting on behalf of their foundations.
The Culture Funders Affinity Group and the Health Funders Affinity Group are pleased to collaborate on this meeting. During the meeting, we will delve into critical questions on the topic - can the arts really improve wellness, what can funders learn from existing statewide models and what is needed to further this work? Globally, the field of arts and health is well-established with healthcare systems strategically positioning the arts to support wellness and wellbeing. In the US, many states are establishing Arts and Health programming to intentionally leverage art experiences as mitigation, intervention, and even as preventative care. In New Jersey, vibrant cross-sector partnerships have resulted in innovative programming and dynamic models to increase arts access and participation while expanding the traditional bounds of health and wellbeing. Bringing together voices from both the nonprofit and funding communities, this panel explores what’s working and envisions what’s possible as partners break down silos to build a stronger, healthier New Jersey through the art. Join us for an enlightening conversation. Light refreshments will be served.
Panelists
Jennifer Kastle-Goudy, Associate Director of The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey
Alyson Maier Lokuta, AVP, Arts & Well-Being, New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Morgan Yacoe, Director of the George Family Center for Healing Arts, Rowan University.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $75 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is open to all funders.
Andrew Binger is the Program Officer for Community Partnerships at the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. In his role, Andrew manages the Local Arts Program, a $6 million partnership that provides state dollars to each of New Jersey’s 21 counties via a designated county arts agency (CAA). CAAs use these dollars to support their own local arts development programs and to provide regrants to local, grassroots organizations in their respective counties. In addition to managing this extensive grant program, Andrew plays a vital role in the Council’s emergency preparedness efforts and co-leads the agency’s arts and health initiatives. Andrew represents the Council in various cross-sector collaborations, including the NJ Department of Transportation’s Transit Village Task Force, Revolution NJ, and Performing Arts Readiness, to name a few. With a strong commitment to fostering cultural vitality, Andrew continues to make a significant impact in the local arts landscape. Andrew currently serves on the board of the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund, Just Say It, and the steering committee for the Creating Healthy Communities convening. He is also pursuing a Master of Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary. Through his work, Andrew amplifies voices historically denied opportunity, fostering a more equitable, inclusive, and vibrant society.
Jennifer Kastle-Goudy is an Associate Director for The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, the charitable giving arm of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. She represents the Foundation in southern New Jersey and is responsible for cultivating strategic relationships with charitable organizations and identifying grant-making opportunities to advance the Foundation’s mission, which is to support organizations that make New Jersey healthier. A graduate of Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Jennifer acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising and Graphic Design. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Camden and Chair’s their Community Relations and Development Committee. Jennifer also serves on the Community Advisory Committee for Jewish Family Service of Atlantic County. Jennifer is a resident of Audubon, New Jersey where she lives with her children Reagan and Jack.
Aly Maier Lokuta, MA (she/her) is the Assistant Vice President of Arts & Well-Being at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), where she leads innovative programming, research, and education at the intersection of arts and health, serving communities in Newark and New Jersey. A multidisciplinary artist, Aly stays well through creating visual art and writing. You can learn more about NJPAC Arts & Well-Being at www.njpac.org/well and about Aly’s art and consulting work at www.alysonmaier.com.
Morgan Yacoe (BFA, Virginia Commonwealth University; MFA, University of Florida) is the inaugural director of the George Family Center for Healing Arts at Rowan University, where she conducts research, education, and community initiatives at the intersection of arts and health. At the Center, she leads programs such as ArtWise Rx, Rowan’s arts prescribing initiative, GlassArt for Military Wellness, and multiple artist in residence programs within Rowan-Virtua Medicine. She also directs the Healing Arts Research Lab and is advancing new academic pathways, including the Healing Arts Area of Distinction for medical students at Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine and a Certificate of Undergraduate Study in Healing Arts. With 15 years of experience in the field, Yacoe is an interdisciplinary artist, sculptor by training, and researcher who develops innovative medical training tools and collaborative art projects designed to enhance wellness, health, empathy, enhance observation, and strengthen cultural competency in healthcare. She has presented nationally, published in peer reviewed medical journals, and secured competitive funding, including the NIH Behavioral Research Prize and multiple foundation grants supporting community-based, educational, and veteran mental health initiatives.
BOOKS
Julia Hotz, The Connection Cure
Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, Your Brain on Art
Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide
NeuroArts Blueprint
RESEARCH/DATA
Americans for the Arts
· Arts and Well-Being Info Fact Sheet
· Improving Our Nation’s Health Through the Arts
Arts Ed Newark: 5-Year Report on Community-Led Healing-Centered Engagement
White Papers: Arts in Health in Long-Term Care, Arts in Health in Social Domain, Arts in Health in Hospitals
Arts, Culture, and Social Prescribing in the US (23 Case Studies)
Music and Mind Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness
WHO 2019 Report
UF Epi Arts Lab Results Table
NJPAC Arts & Well-Being
Upcoming Event: Creating Healthy Communities Conference
This resource guide includes various virtual volunteer opportunities, additional resources, and best practices for corporate volunteer programs during the coronavirus pandemic.
This resource will be updated, as CNJG and corporate members collect new information and opportunities to share with colleagues.
Nonprofit Finance Fund's Annual Survey chronicles the challenges facing the nonprofit sector and calls out some of the targeted investments we can start to agree on as a society to salvage the investment we have collectively made in our social infrastructure. We believe that a coordinated intervention now will not only better prepare us for inevitable future economic crises; it can lead to a happier, healthier community for us all.