Boston Disparities Project: Food and violence

The Boston Disparities Project is a program developed by the Boston Public Health Commission and Mayor Thomas M. Menino to target the main factors that lead to worse health outcomes for the minority population in Boston. The Project has granted over $2 million to more than 100 community organizations to work towards achieving this goal. We recognize that the built environment is often a social determinant of health outcome, and the Project has focused much of its second-year grant period around this topic. We have funded organizations that are involved in such projects as providing economic opportunities, creating clinical protocols for screening victims of violence, and ensuring safe neighborhoods. Grants have also been given to efforts related to creating urban farms and increasing access to healthy, nutritious food. We hope to share experiences from our community that have worked towards this area as well as other priorities of the Boston Disparities Project. The Boston Disparities Project continues to be a complex and involved process with many partners in the City, all with a shared vision of combating health disparities. Now well into its fourth year, the Project has seen some concrete, positive results that can be replicated, as well as experienced several valuable lessons which can be shared. We hope to engage others in the public health field and share some of our strategies as related to the built environment in addressing disparities.