Collaborating for Community Health

Asthma

In 2012, the Greensboro Housing Coalition began working on The Kresge Foundation's Advancing Safe and Healthy Homes for Children and Families Initiative (ASHHI). The initiative allowed the Greensboro Housing Coalition to physically work on eliminating hazards within homes in Greensboro, North Carolina identified as unhealthy. It also granted the opportunity for the Greensboro Housing Coalition to work with local governments and other stakeholders to advance policies that lead to healthier and safer homes, such as code enforcement ordinances. The ASHHI grant led to the publication of “Removing asthma triggers and improving children's health the asthma partnership demonstration project” [2] in conjunction with our partners at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Triad Healthcare Network, and Cone Health. Between 2013 and 2015 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Asthma Demonstration Project worked on the home environments of 41 pediatric asthma cases in Greensboro, North Carolina to produce more trigger-free environments and educate families on the sources of potential asthma triggers. Interventions such as educating residents, repairing houses (eg, fixing leaks and improving ventilation), and providing certain products (eg, HEPA vacuums and mattress covers) successfully mitigated children's asthma. Observed effects of these interventions included improvements for children in sleep, school work, and performance of normal daily activities. Also noted was a reduced use of asthma medication, medication applications, and health visits. Additionally, households with return visits to the hospital had 50% lower hospital bills for childhood asthma treatment [2].

Collaborative Cottage Grove

In 2015, the Greensboro Housing Coalition built on these efforts by becoming the lead agency on a clinical community partnership to improve population health—a project utilizing a community-centered health and shared leadership approach. This model is based on a strategy to advance prevention and improve population health through collaborative efforts by community members, health care professionals, and community-based organizations. Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina provided funding to 4 organizations—Greensboro Housing Coalition, Mustard Seed Community Health, New Hope Community Development Group, and the Cottage Grove Initiative—in 3 areas: Action Learning, Planning/Capacity Building, and Implementation. Formally called Collaborative Cottage Grove, these organizations began working together in this community-centered health initiative in communities most impacted by social determinants of health. The partnership opened up the opportunity for the Greensboro Housing Coalition to expand from focusing on healthy homes to also focusing on healthy neighborhoods and entire communities. Residents of the communities serve as experts on community changes that are needed to improve the quality of their lives. Collaborative Cottage Grove is operating under the premise that only 20% of health is medical treatment. The other 80% includes social, economic, and environmental concerns such as water, air, safety, housing, social interactions, jobs, and education.

The work of the Collaborative is currently focused on the Cottage Grove neighborhood on the east side of Greensboro. Once the location of the city dump, by 1950 Cottage Grove bustled with retail shops and business professionals. The city dump, in the central part of the community, was turned into Bingham Park. Today, Bingham Park is plagued with environmental issues because it still resides on top of the old landfill. Over the years business closings have been rampant and investments in the community have been sparse. All these factors have led to socioeconomic decline and overall deterioration in the community.

To create effective and sustainable change within communities with such difficult environmental histories, grassroots community engagement efforts and collaborations such as Collaborative Cottage Grove are vital. To broaden its reach in the community and enhance the representation of the community served, the Collaborative partnership has grown to include the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Greensboro's Center for Housing and Community Studies; Guilford College; Epoch Renewal; NC Department of Health and Human Services; North Carolina Cooperative Extensions in Guilford County and with North Carolina A&T State University; Hospice Palliative Care; Cone Health; and neighborhood associations.

Collaborative Cottage Grove recognizes the importance of having the community's voice lead the initiative; therefore, residents are active participants and advisers who work in teams to address community needs. Partners are able to guide and support the advocacy and community change efforts of the residents, and address health priorities and environmental and socioeconomic concerns. In this particular neighborhood, those health priorities are asthma (as it relates to housing conditions) and diabetes. Community capacity and partnerships are strengthened as we maximize our assets through this collaborative, community-led structure. Although meaningful engagement is a product of such collaborations, it does not come without consistent hard work by organization partners and the residents who do this work.

Advocacy

The Greensboro Housing Coalition has a long standing reputation for advocating for decent and affordable housing for residents of low income communities. Crucial to our mission is supporting residents in advocating for themselves. Self-advocacy is often daunting for those who are not accustomed to it and who don't always trust that positive outcomes will happen for their community, even when favorable changes are attainable. By consistently supporting residents—who have often witnessed decisions being made that devastated their neighborhoods—organizations can build a sense of trust with residents. Community members must be empowered to have their voices heard and their concerns validated. Outcomes of this work become stronger and more sustainable when residents see organizations engaging and advocating with, and not only for, them.