SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA) is forming a new group that will have the opportunity to fund the work of community organizations addressing the health equity challenge of its choosing. SEVCA invites the public to join them virtually on June 30 at 5 p.m. to learn about this opportunity and to provide feedback on forming the group and taking the work forward.
SEVCA has recently been contracted by the VT Public Health Institute (VtPHI) to facilitate the new Community Health Equity Partnership (CHEP) for the Springfield Health District through at least May of 2023. The Springfield CHEP is one of 12 partnerships statewide, which will assist the Vermont Department of Health to meet the goals of the CDC Grant to Address Health Disparities – specifically to “mobilize partners and collaborators to advance health equity and address social determinants of health as they relate to Covid health disparities among populations at higher risk and that are underserved.”
As a part of this work, SEVCA will convene, facilitate, and support a Learning Collaborative which will decide upon a health equity challenge the community is facing, and distribute about $150,000 in low-barrier grant funding to community organizations addressing that challenge. SEVCA is currently in the process of hearing from community members and local service providers about how they would like to approach this work and form the Learning Collaborative. “It’s our firm belief that communities know what they need and are best positioned to meet their own needs,” says Kelsea Burch, SEVCA’s Health Equity Network Development Specialist. “That’s why it’s important to us that the Community Health Equity Partnership in Greater Springfield be community-led, and that the Learning Collaborative decide upon its own vision, process, and goals for this work. This is how we will bring about lasting change toward greater health equity in the region.”