Health, Built-In

Whether it is policies, systems or environments, Vitalyst is working with municipalities, counties and the state to ensure that community health is more intentionally built into our communities. In FY2019, Vitalyst:

• Provided ongoing leadership and voice for the potentially harmful impacts of Opportunity Zones, introducing stakeholders to equitable growth alternatives.
• Funded and facilitated food systems efforts on multiple levels. The Vitalyst-supported Maricopa County Food System Coalition released new assessments of the county food environment. We funded Electronic Benefits Transfer machines in Pima County farmers markets to keep more Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars invested in local food systems. Vitalyst also influenced City of Phoenix technical assistance grants from the Environmental Protection Agency for “Local Foods, Local Places” that enable development of local food systems.
• Piloted the Live Well Arizona mini-grants, funding five place-based efforts around the state to build community well-being systems and infrastructure. Building on lessons from that experience, we…
• Launched the first LiveWell Arizona Incubator cohort, featuring five collaborative teams from across the state. Developed in partnership with the Arizona Partnership for Healthy Communities, the Incubator features 10 months of coaching for each team as well as a series of full cohort face-to-face meetings with the ultimate goal of creating strong cross-sector teams with an actionable work plan moving forward.
  • Four of the Incubator teams have been the subject of Vitalyst Spark podcast episodes. Click the links to hear directly from each project: South Mountain Works (Phoenix), Coffee Pot Farms (Navajo Nation), the Cobre Valley Collaborative (Globe-Miami), and Better Together (Sahuarita).

When it comes down to it, we are focused on helping communities fairly create access to options that make improving well-being and health not just probable, but easier. Work like this isn’t an easy or quick fix, but Vitalyst remains dedicated to making smart changes through work in planning and zoning, housing, food, transportation, recreation and more.