Wisconsin Minority Health Program

2008 Minority Health Grants

The Minority Health Grant Program is targeted to racial/ethnic minority community-based organizations and tribes in Wisconsin. The mini-grants are intended to build the capacity of local communities to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate health resources and services for African Americans, American Indians, Southeast Asians, and/or Hispanics/Latinos and to eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care.

Projects for the 2008 grant program address one of the following two priority areas in support of the State Health Plan:

• Priority Area 1: Access to primary and preventive health services
• Priority Area 2: Overweight, obesity, and lack of physical activity

2008 Minority Health Grantees

Traditionally Healthy Project (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians)

The Traditionally Healthy Project is a weekly health program designed to enhance the physical well-being of Native American youth, ages 13-19, who are overweight or at risk for obesity. The project will work in cooperation with the Healthy Lifestyles Project (a community health education program) to provide weekly, seasonally appropriate, physical fitness activities including traditional dance instruction, snow shoeing, skiing, skating and swimming. Additionally, weekly talking circles will provide youth with a supportive environment in which to discuss obesity-related issues and learn healthy living habits. Community members with expertise in nutrition and life skills will guide these meetings.

Girls Get Fit (YWCA of Madison/Girl Neighborhood Power)
Girl Neighborhood Power is an after-school and evening enrichment program currently serving African American, Latina and Asian girls, ages 9-18, who live in five low-income communities. The Girls Get Fit campaign includes exercise, nutritious cooking classes and meetings with community-based public health nurses. The focus of the campaign is creative, fun ways to increase healthy eating and maintain a moderate to vigorous exercise routine weekly.

Fitness Fun (Agape Community Center)
Fitness Fun is a community health program designed to address the nutritional and physical fitness needs of African Americans in the Milwaukee area. The program will encourage nutritious eating habits and a regular exercise routine through menu planning and cooking classes, weekly exercise and "Dancercise" classes, and organized recreational/sports activities. Additionally, wellness activities such as weekly blood pressure checks will be provided in consultation with local nursing students.

Latinas Saludables/Latina Healthy Lifestyles Project (CORE/El Centro)
Latinas Saludables is a program designed to address overweight, obesity and lack of physical activity issues in Milwaukee's Latina population. Special focus will be directed toward two Zip codes with the highest Latina population in the city. Using a Community Health Promoter (CHP) model, the project will involve a personalized program of health education and exercise in which participants engage in one-on-one work with a CHP, nutritionist and project coordinator. CHP coaching and weekly support group sessions will also be utilized to identify and address individual and community barriers to success.

Using Health Promoters to Improve Health in the LGBT Communities of Color (Diverse and Resilient, Inc.)
The project will engage lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color who will train as Community Health Promoters (CHPs) in order to increase culturally competent health promotion activities through outreach and education to social networks. CHPs will be recruited and trained through a structured curriculum of outreach strategies supported by academic and health care partners. The focus of this project is to increase understanding of the health disparities peculiar to LGBT people of color, and of the connection between minority stress and risk behaviors. A primary goal will be to increase adaptive behaviors to stress through increased community outreach.

Our Space, Our Place (Freedom, Inc.)
Our Space, Our Place is a project designed to give Hmong female teens a safe and culturally competent place in which to become more educated and knowledgeable about health issues of concern to them. The project has identified 60 Hmong American and Hmong refugee teen girls ages 13-19, from no-income, low-income and working class families, most of whom possess Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and who have, or have recently experienced, a medical condition of concern. This unique program will integrate both western and traditional Hmong approaches to health care, and "bring the clinic" to the community in order to increase access to health care services.

Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) (Marathon County Health Department)
The purpose of the HEAL project is to address the issue of obesity and lack of physical activity in the adult Hmong population in the greater Wausau area. Representatives of the Hmong community will be asked to participate in a planning process to identify the perception of the problem and to strategize potential solutions. One promising practice identified will utilize a Hmong Community Health Worker (CHW) to build upon the successful Hmong Walking Group already in place, and link it with the Healthy Eating, Active Living Coalition of Marathon County and its existing programs and services.

Racine-Kenosha Birthing Project (Professional Women's Network of Service)
The Racine-Kenosha Birthing Project (RKBP) is an emergent support and advocacy program based on The Birthing Project USA model. This model is designed to improve birth outcomes for women of color, using the theory of "Sister Friends." This approach pairs older, mature women of the community with at-risk African American women to provide non-medical, practical support during pregnancy and for one year after the birth of the younger woman's children. RKBP will address lifestyle issues that need changing, such as smoking cessation, dietary issues, physical activity and keeping prenatal appointments.

Hispanic Outreach (The Neighbor's Place)
Hispanic Outreach is a project designed to enhance the health and well-being of Central Wisconsin's Hispanic infants and families by increasing access to health services through partnership with Latinos Unidos' existing bilingual services. These services will be employed to develop and implement an intake procedure to screen all clients for WIC eligibility, and provide referral and follow-up. Additionally, a dance fitness program will be implemented based on an informational, behavioral and environmental model, with the aim of changing physical activity behavior in the Hispanic population.

Comenzando Bien (Winnebago County Health Department)
Comenzando Bien, based on a March of Dimes model of the same name, is a Spanish language prenatal class available to pregnant Hispanic women. Winnebago County Health Department currently administers this program in a three-county region. The class, taught by Spanish language speakers from the community, provides information on prenatal care, pregnancy changes, nutrition during pregnancy, labor/delivery, child care and breastfeeding.

2012 Minority Health Community Grants

2011 Minority Health Mini-grants

2010 Minority Health Mini-grants

2009 Minority Health Mini-grants

2008 Minority Health Mini-grants

2007 Minority Health Mini-grants

2006 Minority Health Mini-grants

Last Revised: May 15, 2012