EVANSVILLE — The city has received a $125,000 grant to help advance a community health program.
The African American Mayors Association and the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America, named Evansville as one of the seven cities with an African American mayor to receive one of the grants last week.
Evansville, along with Jonesboro, Georgia, received the grant for a mid-sized city. The announcement came at the African American Mayors Association National Conference in Washington, D.C., which Evansville Mayor Stephanie Terry attended.
According to a news release, Evansville will use the money toward expanding the Evansville Promise Neighborhood Schools Healthy Play & Pantry program.
This program, a part of the Evansville Promise Neighborhood initiative housed at the Center for Innovation and Change at University of Evansville, aims to make access to nutrition easier for students in Promise Neighborhood schools.
Those schools are:
In a video prepared on the program, Erin Lewis, executive director of Center for Innovation and Change, said the Play & Pantry is crucial as much of the Promise Neighborhood is in a food desert.
“They have academic challenges, they have economic challenges and the Promise Neighborhood grant allows us to laser focus on what the families really need to break down the barriers to access, to actually consuming fresh fruits and vegetables,” Lewis said. “It’s not enough to give them a box of vegetables. They have to be excited about preparing it, it has to taste good. It has to be easy.”
According to the news release, the money will help keep healthy food pantries stocked and add equipment to help delivery capacity. Students participating in the program will have access to family cooking nights and help to plant and harvest produce.
“We have nearly 40 percent of individuals still living in poverty, so it’s critical that we minimize the barriers that they face as it relates to nutrition education as well as access to affordable, healthy foods,” Terry stated. “That’s what we are trying to do with the program that we are implementing here.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Grant to help grow nutrition access in Evansville Promise Neighborhood
Reporting by Sarah Loesch, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
