April Quarterly Community Health Meeting Recap
Participants to “vote” on their favorite way to celebrate Spring in Frederick, including attending a local festival, walking/biking at one of the many beautiful trails and trails, dining outside, or attending sporting events. It was fun to reflect on the many events happening around our area this time of year!
The Frederick County Health Department and our four Local Health Improvement Process (LHIP) Workgroups shared what they are working on and what is to come.
Our special guest speaker, Richard Amador, Health Care Access Maryland’s Outreach Manager for their Connector Program, shared vital information on how to navigate the changes in public health insurance eligibility and how we can connect residents to the best information and resources available to obtain affordable health insurance.
Recording passcode: 8c&*SbUa
Healthier Frederick Updates
Malcolm Furgol, Healthier Frederick’s Executive Director, opened the meeting and provided updates on the our Health Equity Framework progress, including recruiting new partners and conducting community dialogues.
Completed so far:
Partnerships: Recruited 6 (goal of at least 5) new partners representing underrepresented communities and non-health sectors to participate in LHIP Workgroups.
Community Voice: Conducted one community dialogue/listening session to gather resident-identified priorities for addressing root causes of health inequity for the immigrant & refugee population.
In progress:
Data Use: Hold at least two (2) Coalition-wide sessions that include structured review of disaggregated local health data to identify equity gaps
Shared Measurement: Finalize a core set of at least five (5) equity indicators aligned with LHIP priorities from the group’s logic models.
You can learn more about our Health Equity Framework at https://healthierfrederick.org/about/what-we-do.
Unity Campaign:
Malcolm also announced that for our first ever involvement in the Unity Campaign with United Way of Frederick County, we had 23 donors, totaling $4,552 in funds raised!
Frederick County Health Department Updates
Rissah Watkins, Director of the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Communication at the Frederick County Health Department (FCHD), reminded participants to schedule their vaccinations before vacation, to avoid the back to school rush! She also noted some important upcoming events including a Rabies Pet Vaccination Clinic on May 9 and Extreme Risk Protective Order (ERPO) training on June 25. More information about all of these events can be found on the FCHD website at Health.frederickcountymd.gov.
Institutional and Systemic Racism Workgroup Updates
Healthier Frederick is proud to support the leadership of the Black Health Equity Coalition (BHEC) in their critical work to address institutional and systemic racism in Frederick County. While Healthier Frederick houses the LHIP, BHEC leads this work. Akiyyah Billups, BHEC Board Member, shared updates from the three Workgroups and their goals to Expand Anti-Racism & Anti-Discrimination Training, Expand Representation & Capacity of Birth Workers, and Ensure CAB & CHIP Committee Remain Involved & Supported. She announced that Workgroup 2 is currently accepting applications for the Full Spectrum Doula Training until April 28th.
Affordable Healthy Food Updates
Alysia Feuer, Executive Director of Farm to School Frederick and Affordable Healthy Food Workgroup Lead presented how the Workgroup is focusing their efforts on addressing school food, as more than 48,000 students enrolled in FCPS, the Workgroup believes that school meals are a top priority with the potential for a significant impact directly related to food insecurity. They plan to begin this project by reaching out to the Food Service Director, elementary school PTAs, principals, and the public with a poll about school foods. The Workgroup plans to host an in-person convening to discuss the results of this poll and coming up with a strategic way to map the Food Access Network in Frederick County.
Mental Health Workgroup Updates
Brooke DeSantis, Mental Health Workgroup Lead and Founder of Love for Lochlin, shared that ‘cost and affordability’ was named as one of the top barriers to accessing mental health support in the latest Community Health Needs Assessment conducted in Frederick County. For this reason, the Workgroup plans to soon roll out a survey for providers to determine their interest in enrolling in insurance. Additionally, the Workgroup is working on expanding the capacity of Mental Health First Aid training in the local community by sponsoring up to five individuals to get certified as Mental Health First Aid Instructors. Lastly, the Workgroup has recently rolled out a “Men’s Mental Health” Toolkit, which is available for sharing widely and can be found at https://healthierfrederick.org/yougood.
Affordable Housing Workgroup Updates
The Affordable Housing Workgroup is addressing the lack of affordable housing in Frederick County in partnership with the Frederick Housing Solutions Task Force. Sharon Stromberg, leadership team member, shared how their various project teams; Affordable Housing Build, Shared Housing Pilot, Single Room Occupancy Ordinance, and Landlord Outreach are working to achieve actionable goals by the end of 2026. Each project team meets regularly and is collaborating across Task Force membership. A Faith and Housing Initiative will be launching in May, and interested houses of faith are encouraged to reach out to fhs.taskforce@gmail.com if they are interested!
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