The BUILD Health Challenge® (BUILD) kicks off its third cohort this month with 18 dynamic community collaborations from across the nation participating. Working on a wide range of issues, these communities will apply bold, upstream, integrated, local, and data-driven approaches grounded in health equity to tackle the root causes of some of today’s most pressing challenges. Issue areas include: food insecurity, elder community building, maternal and child support systems, community revitalization, housing, and more. As BUILD awardees, they will work to transform health at the local level, supported by funding and resources from BUILD over the next two years.

Get to Know the New Communities in BUILD’s Third Cohort

This cohort was chosen from more than 130 applicants looking to join this growing effort to move resources, action, and attention upstream. Each awardee group consists of a community based organization that will lead the effort, a hospital, health system, or payer that will provide a match in funding and resources to BUILD’s support; and the local public health department. The collaboratives that are selected generally demonstrate a history of collaboration among the partners, a strong level of engagement and leadership within the community, and the likelihood that the project would result in long-term, sustainable changes that have the potential to impact the health of residents.

These 18 communities are now part of a growing national network of communities leading the way in the creation of sustainable improvements in community health.  To date, BUILD has supported the efforts of 55 collaboratives from across the country in 25 states.

We invite you to learn more about each of the new awardees on their project page here on the BUILD Communities page. Be on the lookout in the coming months for updates on the progress, learnings, and insights that each community will share as their program advances. Can’t wait? Visit the BUILD Resources page to take advantage of resources and information shared by past awardees about how they worked towards and achieved systems level changes in their communities.

The third cohort is made possible with generous support from BUILD’s 11-member funder collaborative, including: BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, Blue Shield of California Foundation, Communities Foundation of Texas, de Beaumont Foundation, Episcopal Health Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc., New Jersey Health Initiatives, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

BUILD’s THIRD COHORT

The Roots to Prevention Collaboration | Camden, NJ | Food

Advancing Community Partnerships to Increase Food Access in Southern Dallas | Dallas, TX | Food

Healthy Highland | Gastonia, NC | Community Revitalization

Collaborative Cottage Grove | Greensboro, NC | Healthy Housing

Build Trust, Build Health/Fomentar la Confianza y Salud | Greenville, SC | Children’s Health

Maternal Upstream Management (MUM) | Houston, TX | Maternal and Child Health

The Hope for Health Collaborative | Kerrville, TX | Community Revitalization

Marion County CHFE (Creating Healthy Food Environments) Project | Marion, SC | Food

BUILD Sherman Park | Milwaukee, WI | Safe Communities

New Brunswick Healthy Housing Collaborative | New Brunswick, NJ | Healthy Housing

Maternal and Child Health at Columbia Parc | New Orleans, LA | Maternal and Child Health

Healthy Havenscourt Collaborative | Oakland, CA | Safe Communities

Empowering a Self-Healing Community: Safety, Sufficiency, and Well-Being in North Omaha | Omaha, NE | Community Revitalization

Caring for Reno’s Elders (CARE) | Reno, NV | Elderly Care

Healthy Babies, Empowered Moms, Flourishing Families | Sunflower County, MS | Maternal and Child Health

Strong Immigrant Communities Through Collective Action for Housing Affordability and Ownership | Vallejo, CA | Community Revitalization

BUILD Fourth Plain | Vancouver, WA | Healthy Housing

Healthy Together Medical-Legal Partnership to Improve Health in DC by Enhancing Community Resilience | Washington, DC | Children’s Health