Convergence Partnership,

HEAC, BHC
Understanding the basics…
 Who & What
• National Convergence Partnership
• http://www.convergencepartnership.org/site/c.fhLOK6PELmF/b.3917533/k.BDC8/Home.htm
• California Convergence
• http://www.californiaconvergence.org/national_convergence.php

• In 2006, a collaboration of funders came together to create the Healthy Eating Active
Living Convergence Partnership, with the shared goal of changing policies and
environments to better achieve the vision of healthy people living in healthy places.
• The steering committee includes representatives from The California Endowment,
Kaiser Permanente, Nemours*, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention serve
as critical technical advisors on the committee. Through multifield, equity-focused
efforts, the partnership will seek to achieve its aims supported by PolicyLink, a
national research and action institute devoted to advancing economic and social
equity.

*(Nemours is one of the nation’s leading pediatric health systems, dedicated to advancing
higher standards in children’s health. Locations in Deleware, Florida, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania)
 National Convergence
•
Vision
Safe neighborhoods, communities, and buildings support physical activity as part of everyday life.

• Fresh, local, and healthy food is available and affordable in all communities and neighborhoods.

• Healthy foods and beverages are promoted in grocery and other food stores, restaurants, and entertainment
venues.

• Schools offer and promote only healthy foods and beverages to students.

• Schools promote healthy physical activities and incorporate them throughout the day, including before and after
school.

• Workplaces and employers offer and promote access to healthy foods and beverages and opportunities for
physical activity.

• Healthcare organizations and providers promote healthy eating and active living in their own institutional policies
and in their clinical practices.

• Government and the private sector support and promote healthy eating and active living environments.

• Organizations, institutions, and individuals that influence the information and entertainment environments share
responsibility for and act responsibly to promote healthy eating and active living.

• Childcare organizations, including preschool, after-school, and early childhood settings, offer and promote only
healthy foods and beverages to children and provide sufficient opportunities for, and promote, physical activity.
 Convergence Innovation Fund:
Land Use/Built Environment and Food Access
• 15 foundations were selected. The awards provide as much as $200,000 over two years to each
recipient to support innovative local and regional initiatives and projects. Foundations were
required to provide a $2 match for every $1 they were awarded in order to leverage additional
resources and support.
• In CA:
– 1) The Health Trust www.healthtrust.org Santa Clara County and Northern Benito County, $130,000. The
grant will help The Health Trust establish a new initiative to support a neighborhood, place-based approach.
The initiative will fund collaborative, community-driven efforts that cut across the foundation’s three priority
initiatives -- Healthy Living, Healthy Aging, and Healthy Communities.

– 2) Humboldt Area Foundation www.hafoundation.org Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity Counties, $100,000. The
foundation will use its award to create a new Health Equity Initiative to coordinate and support the work of
three local multi-field projects: Humboldt Community for Activity and Nutrition (Humboldt CAN), the
Humboldt Partnership for Active Living (HumPal), and the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF).
The project emphasizes supporting community members to become integrally involved in policy and
environmental change focused on built environment and food access.

– 3) The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation www.thegilbertfoundation.org Santa Monica, CA, Total:
$80,000. The foundation invests in programs that promote education, tolerance, social services, healthcare
and the arts. This award will support built environment approaches that address the lack of access to
physical activity and/or healthy food. Specifically, they will support efforts to increase the accessibility and
maintenance of parks for low-income communities throughout California.
 What is the CA Convergence?
• Kaiser Permanente and The California Endowment
have been joined by the following other organizations to
support this work:
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and
the California Department of Public Health.

• Staffing and Coordination of the CA Convergence is

provided by Partnerhsip for the Public’s Health – Public
Health Instittue
• California Convergence Director:
Julie Williamson, MPH
• Associate Director for California Convergence:
Lisa Hershey
• http://www.californiaconvergence.org/
• Parner projects across the CA
• Policy Arenas:
– Land Use and Transportation Planning
– Retail Food Environments
– Public Safety Measures
– Improving Nutrition Standards for Children
• CALIFORNIA CONVERGENCE SPRING CONFERENCE - Mon., April 19
http://californiaconvergence.ning.com/notes/Take_Action_Together
• HEAC works to prevent childhood obesity by changing the
environments children inhabit, so that these environments
encourage healthy choices. To achieve lasting change, HEAC
focuses on improving policies and institutional practices. And to
ensure changes that work on the ground, HEAC pursues these
goals through fostering partnerships within local communities, and
through linking the local work to statewide and national efforts.

• HEAC co-sponsor and funding partner, The Kaiser Permanente

National Community Benefit Program, is working with The California
Endowment to share lessons and develop joint strategies with other
funders. Similar in design to HEAC, Kaiser's Healthy Eating/Active
Living initiative has sites in Northern California and Colorado.
 Grantee Profiles for Phase I (2005-2009) and
Phase II (2009-2010)

• Baldwin Park, Los Angeles County The 57th Assembly District Grassroots Nutrition and
Physical Activity Team
http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/grantee_showcase1_1.php

• Chula Vista, San Diego County South Bay Partnership - Chula Vista Community
Collaborative (CVCC)
http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/grantee_showcase1_2.php

• Oakland, Alameda County San Antonio Neighbors for Active Living (SANFAL)
http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/grantee_showcase1_3.php

• Santa Ana, Orange County Healthy Eating, Active Communities—Santa Ana

http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/grantee_showcase1_4.php

• South Los Angeles, Los Angeles County The Childhood Obesity Brain Trust (COBT)
http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/grantee_showcase1_5.php

• South Shasta County South Shasta Healthy Eating Active Communities Collaborative
• http://www.healthyeatingactivecommunities.org/grantee_showcase1_6.php
• Four organizations make up the core of the technical support team:
– California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity and
Nutrition) -School/After School Sector
– California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit) -
Neighborhood/After School Sector
– PolicyLink - Neighborhood/After School Sector
– Berkeley Media Studies Group - Both Sectors
• In addition, the following organizations provide training and
expertise in specialized areas:
– California Center for Civic Participation - youth engagement and
youth leadership
– Children Now - reducing marketing and advertising aimed at children
– Common Sense Media - parent education and media literacy
– Planning for Healthy Places at Public Health Law & Policy -
influencing city and county land use plans
– Prevention Institute/Strategic Alliance - state advocacy on nutrition
and physical activity
 Building Healthy Communities — places where
children and youth are healthy, safe and ready to
learn.

Goal
Achieve 10 outcomes
at each of the 14 sites
with 4 big results as indicators of achievement
10 outcomes:
1. All children have health coverage
2. Families have improved access to a “health home” that supports healthy
behaviors
3. Health and family-focused human services shift resources toward
prevention
4. Residents live in communities with health-promoting land-use, transportation
and community development
5. Children and their families are safe from violence in their homes and
neighborhoods
6. Communities support healthy youth development
7. Neighborhood and school environments support improved health and
healthy behaviors
8. Community health improvements are linked to economic development
9. Health gaps for boys and young men of color are narrowed
10. California has a shared vision of community health
1. Del Norte
2.
3.
South Sacramento
Richmond
14 BHC Sites
4. East Oakland
5. East Salinas
6. Southwest Merced/East Merced
7. Central/West Fresno City
8. South Kern County
9. Boyle Heights
10. South Figueroa Corridor
11. Central Long Beach,
12. Central Santa Ana,
13. Coachella,
14. City Heights
1. Provide a health home for all children
2. Reverse the childhood obesity epidemic
3. Increase school attendance
4. Reduce youth violence
http://www.calendow.org/healthycommunities/pdfs/FourBigResultsUpdate8_06_09.pdf
 What’s Different?
1. Local efforts will have a Hub
• A key lesson from past community change initiatives is the
importance of creating a Hub, a group of individuals who come
together to guide the effort at each site while the initiative is
underway.
– Community Coalition Action Theory of Butterfoss and Kegler. This
research suggests that coalitions develop in stages: forming,
continuing, and making the coalition a regular part of the community.
– http://www.calendow.org/healthycommunities/pdfs/bhc_hub/BHC-Why
%20Have%20a%20Hub.pdf
2. Statewide Advocacy Will Lift Up Improvements in
Communities to Promote Policies that Support Change
Now and Sustain Hope in the Future.
– “Ultimately we are aiming for a shift in thinking, and a change in
statewide policies away from those that ignore the root causes
of ill health and toward policies that prioritize prevention and
value the health of all our communities as essential to the
common good. Through advocacy and strategic media, we
plan to emphasize our shared interest and elevate local
experience to influence and shape policy at the regional, state
and national level.”
1. Del Norte - http://www.mycalconnect.org/delnorte/
2. South Sacramento -
http://www.mycalconnect.org/sacramento/Default.aspx
3. Richmond - http://www.mycalconnect.org/richmond/
4. East Oakland - http://www.mycalconnect.org/oakland/
5. East Salinas - http://www.mycalconnect.org/salinas/
6. Southwest Merced/East Merced - http://www.mycalconnect.org/merced/
7. Central/West Fresno City - http://www.mycalconnect.org/fresno/
8. South Kern County - http://www.mycalconnect.org/kern/
9. Boyle Heights- http://www.mycalconnect.org/boyleheights/
10. South Figueroa Corridor - http://www.mycalconnect.org/southfig/
11. Central Long Beach - http://www.mycalconnect.org/longbeach/
12. Central Santa Ana - http://www.mycalconnect.org/santaana/
13. Coachella - http://www.mycalconnect.org/coachella/
14. City Heights - http://www.mycalconnect.org/cityheights/