Chelsea Wellness Foundation Pledges to Invest $100,000 in Manchester’s Health in 2015
This month The Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation (CWF) Board of Directors approved $500,000 for its fourth year of investment in the 5 Healthy Towns (5H) program. 5H is the CWF strategy for improving access to opportunities for sustaining and improving health for all residents of Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Manchester and Stockbridge. In 2015, each community, including Manchester, will have access to $100,000.
CWF distributes grant funding through each community’s Wellness Coalition. The coalitions are comprised of community volunteers who review data to determine community wellness-related needs. The coalition uses CWF funding as well as funding from other sources to implement a community-wide wellness plan to meet those needs. Manchester’s Wellness Coalition meets at noon, the fourth Tuesday of every month in the Village Room. These meetings are public and everyone with a stake or interest in the health of the Manchester Community is encouraged to attend.
Plans are made up of multiple interventions, each with an identified non-profit oversight organization. Coalitions are dependent on local non-profits to oversee technical aspects of the plan, such as applying for and managing funds. This assures broad community buy-in, collaboration and cooperation. Typical oversight organizations include schools, local governments, libraries, health care providers and other non-profit organizations.
Before approval, each community’s plan is evaluated by its own wellness coalition, CWF board members and other representatives from the service area. Approved plans will have the potential to reach multiple segments of the community’s population. The Manchester Wellness Coalition will be completing the draft of the fourth year plan to request up to this recently approved $100,000, at a meeting set for this Tuesday, April 28th at noon in the Village Room.
The Chelsea Friends and Family Wellness Coalition is the first to submit their year four plan. They are requesting $92,000 of the available $100,000, for 12 interventions. They recommend CWF use the un-assigned $8,000 as seed money to begin a five coalition, 5H marketing plan. Representatives of CWF’s Board of Directors will consider their suggestion at their May meeting when they review Chelsea’s 2015 plan submission. This level of collaboration between communities is encouraged and their suggestion is likely to be endorsed.
Manchester’s fourth year plan will be considered by CWF’s Board in June.
To see all five communities’ third year wellness plans visit CWF’s website and scroll to the bottom third of the page where you will find links to each community’s plan.
The Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation is a tax-exempt private foundation governed by a volunteer board of directors. The foundation serves the populations included in the school districts of Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Manchester and Stockbridge. CWF will grant funds for projects dedicated to creating a culture of wellness and sustainable improvements in health.
Four youth football organizers: Jill Corwin, Chad Duffing, Jenni Kerns, and Amelia Woods. Organizers received $10,000 from the Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation in 2014 to help start up this hugely successful program. Photo courtesy of Unforgettable Photos.
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