The Staten Island Child Wellness Initiative (SI CWI) seeks to improve child health and wellness in SI by bringing 80% of SI children through 8th grade to a healthy weight by 2026. CWI will address opportunities for active living; availability and affordability of fresh, healthy food; and community-wide partnerships that shape a child’s home, school, recreational, and healthcare environment. CWI will work collaboratively across multiple sectors to raise awareness and achieve its vision by focusing on schools, health care systems, and the community environment.
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Welcome to the CWI newsletter
Thank you so much for your participation in the CWI coalition. Whether you are a business or nonprofit partner, workgroup member or Steering Committee member, your commitment and hard work helps us to accomplish our goals. Below you will read about CWI workgroups, decisions of the CWI Steering Committee, and important partner updates and upcoming events.
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Coalition and Workgroup Updates
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August Coalition Partner Spotlights
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Heather Butts, Executive Director and co -founder of H.E.A.L.T.H 4 Youths INC. is a nonprofit formed for the charitable and educational purposes of assisting youth. They strive to combat community deterioration and juvenile delinquency, improve the quality of education, health care and life-skills training offered to adolescence and young adults. Learn more here. |
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Holly Bonner continues to provide free eye exams to the community
- Vision screening that test color blindness, depth perception and congenital malformations.
- Referrals to primary care physicians for symptoms of diabetes and hypertension.
- Prescription glasses at no cost.
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The CWI clinical workgroup and SI Asthma clinical sub-committee met as a combined group for the first time this summer. Using the NYS Prevention Agenda, the partners identified focus areas that would support the current projects of CWI and SI Asthma. The next clinical workgroup meeting on October 4th will include a data walk, reviewing asthma and obesity toolkits, and developing cross-cutting strategies to support the combined coalition efforts.
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CWI was proud to work with Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) on a project highlighting sugary beverage advertisement and consumption in the Port Richmond community, complete with a panel, photo display, information and recipes on alternatives. The campaign has continued throughout the summer.
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The community workgroup has finalized The Active Transportation Report and is holding meetings to organize campaign strategies. In addition, CWI is proud to participate in the BetaNYC Hackathon this year, helping to develop an application where residents can participate in real-time infrastructure change. If you are interested in getting involved with the campaign, contact sarah@sipcw.org.
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- Planning for the 5th Annual School Garden Summit is underway and they are looking for people to join the planning committee. One of the major takeaways from last year’s event is the need to get more students involved.
- The Office of Food Nutrition Services’ shared updates from their student-led health school food campaign campaign, where schools will feature a different vegetable of the month on the lunch menu and it will be promoted by student ambassadors.
- The July meeting was hosted by Snug Harbor.
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The CWI Youth Empowerment Coordinator and Youth Wellness Intern met students in the Markham Leadership Academy that will be involved with the (Every School Healthy/America's Promise Alliance) Student Wellness Council in the upcoming school year.
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A youth leader, Port Richmond high school graduate, and Student Wellness Council alumna completed a summer internship with SIPCW. The Youth Wellness Intern, Martha Brobbey, learned about public health and community solutions through participating in CWI meetings and events, honed her public speaking skills in a Staten Island Community Television interview, consulted with TYSA on youth messaging, and gained professional development skills. CWI was thrilled to have her voice and skills at the table and will miss her in the fall! Martha hopes to be an advocate for the African-American community in the future and will be studying philosophy at the College of Staten Island.
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The CWI staff and youth intern participated in a community television on the “Live that S.I” show. The show will continue to display the water diffuser during upcoming interviews and promote healthy beverage alternatives throughout the summer months.
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SIPCW met with the Mayor's office regarding cross-sector collaboration around mental health, youth engagement, and equity.
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In an effort to engage community officers, CWI participated in a community health fair in New Brighton hosted by community officer Mary Gillespie. Read event coverage here.
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Other community events included Transportation Alternative's Rally and Boardwalk Bash hosted by Assemblywoman Malliotakis and SIUH, Friends Of Mariners Harbor Grand opening, and the SI Gender Equity Summit.
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- The SIPCW/CWI team participated in the Baptiste Foundation's Unstoppable Program Training at the PPS, where they learned how to teach mindfulness tools and techniques to youth "to support an unstoppable and resilient generation of young people" through yoga.
- Through the America's Promise Alliance grant, the CWI team participated in the Every School Healthy Convening in Boston. Capacity building included training on group model building, youth engagement, and program evaluation.
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