The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #46211

Laverne M Carter, MPH, MA¹, Andrea Young, MPH¹, Margaret Grayson, Board Chair², and William Johnson, Board Vice-Chair². (1) The EMPRISE Group, Inc., 13410 New Halls Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63033, (2) The Southeast Missouri Community Partners for Progress, 319 W. North Street, Sikeston, MO 63801

The Bootheel region is faced with high poverty, high unemployment, low economic development, a low number of job opportunities, and low education levels – compounded by a limited number of choices and alternatives for its poor residents who live in remote and isolated pockets of economic and social duress. In 2000, a group of residents became increasingly concerned with the rising incidence of poverty and disease that plagues their communities. In an attempt to revitalize their community, the founders solicited the uncompensated services of The EMPRISE Group, Inc., a minority-owned health promotion consultancy firm dedicated to assisting organizations in alleviating health and economic disparities in poor communities. Through the guidance of the EMPRISE staff, the group founded The Southeast Missouri Community Partners for Progress, Inc. (The Partnership), a minority controlled not-for-profit organization located in the rural Bootheel region of Missouri. Since the inception of the organization, EMPRISE has provided logistical and administrative support in the development of health promotion programs specifically for Bootheel residents. The Partnership has successfully implemented programs such as the Responsible Parenting Project and “Healthy Sundays,” a program that uses faith-based initiatives to decrease the high incidence of chronic disease in the Bootheel. The Partnership is also actively involved in locating employment and economic opportunities for area residents. The capacity of The Partnership to successfully implement health promotion programs has been qualitatively measured through a careful historiography of the region and a content analysis of weekly and monthly reports, correspondence, key meeting agendas, and outcomes of funded projects.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants in this session will be able to

• Identify strategies of developing community-based health promotion organizations
• Discuss approaches to building community capacity within local organizations
• Identify ways to involve the community in health promotion projects

Keywords: Community Capacity, Community-Based Partnership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Southeast Missouri Community Partners for Progress, Inc. The EMPRISE Group, Inc.
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: contracts