BUILDing a Healthy Future

The BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation is excited to provide funding to two South Carolina communities to participate in the third cohort of the BUILD Health Challenge. In this learning collaborative, communities will use Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, and Data-driven approaches grounded in health equity to tackle the root causes of some of today’s most pressing health challenges. Two South Carolina communities were selected from more than 130 applicants across the country looking to join this effort to move resources, action and attention upstream.

The two South Carolina communities selected to participate are:

Crecer La Confianza, Crecer La Salud in Greenville County

The primary health aim of Crecer La Confianza, Crecer La Salud (Build Trust, Build Health) is to reduce obesity disparities in the White Horse Road Corridor (WHRC) Hispanic youth, mitigating future disparities in chronic disease. To do this, they will build a trusting and inclusive community where WHRC residents not only have equitable access to health and health-promoting resources such as healthy eating and active living but are also comfortable in using them. They will achieve this through a Community Based Participatory Research approach that will engage leaders and community members in each stage of the process, from study design to dissemination, as they work to increase understanding of the underlying causes of youth obesity and potential solutions for this community.

Partners include: LiveWell Greenville, Hispanic Alliance, Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, Prisma Health, Institute for the Advancement of Community Health at Furman University, and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Creating Health Food Environments in Marion County

The Marion County Creating Healthy Food Environments (CHFE) Project creates and sustains links between the health care safety net and the nutrition safety net. Two anchor health care organizations will screen families with preschool children for food insecurity and refer eligible families to the produce prescription program that includes nutrition education with produce pick-up. This network will bring together sustainable, accessible sources of produce which include the FoodShare program, farmers market, food pantries and retailers. FoodShare produce will be purchased by participants using their Healthy Bucks benefit through SNAP. The partners will work together to improve nutritional literacy, reduce food insecurity and prevent childhood obesity.

Partners include: Pee Dee Community Action Partnership, MUSC Health- Marion Medical Center, SC Department of Health and Environmental Control - Pee Dee Region, Marion County Coordinating Council, Health Care Partners of South Carolina, and Clemson Cooperative Extension.