For Immediate Release
Contact: Paula McCoy, P4P Director
336-575-6099
Winston Salem, N.C. June 10, 2020 Partnership for Prosperity Launches Pilot Study Circles to Engage Community Regarding Social Determinants of Health in Low-resource Communities and Impact of COVID-19.
A series of study circles around the ‘five social determinants of health’ (5SDoH), is being launched by P4P to engage the communities most impacted by these determinants of health in creating solutions and policy recommendations. The 5 Social determinants of health are housing, education, jobs/workforce development, health and wellness, and food insecurity. Transportation is an issue that cuts across all five social determinants. The 5 SDoH, defined as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life”, are responsible for most health inequalities.
A Study Circle is a group of 8 to 12 people who meet regularly over a period of weeks or months to address critical public issues in a democratic, collaborative way. Participants examine the issue from many points of view and identify areas of common ground. They emerge with recommendations for action that will benefit the community. Participants are compensated for their engagement in study circles.
Paula McCoy, the interim Director says “study circles are a bottoms-up approach to decision-making and problem solving where residents are the experts in matters that directly impact them”. Residents will have a voice in matters where they will discuss how the issue affects them, what others are saying about the issue to a session on action. “We hope these study circles result in a ‘collective impact’ – engagement of large numbers of grassroots and grasstop leaders – that produce a shared vision, implementable solutions and public awareness of poverty”. The first pilot study circle, McCoy says, will be on housing and is scheduled for June 18-July 16.
Study circles on Education have been scheduled for June 23-July 21. Food Insecurity and Jobs and Workforce Development will also begin in late June. Registration information can be found on the P4P website: https://partnershipforprosperityws.org/studycircles
“The success of ‘study circles’”, states McCoy, “depend not only on the full engagement of residents most impacted by the social determinants of health, but is also dependent on the cooperation and collaboration of community -based organization, associations and agencies.
Some P4P community partners include:
East/Northeast Winston Neighborhood Association Coalition
Guiding Institute for Developmental Education (GIDE)
Hoops4Lyfe
North Winston Neighborhood Association
Crosby Scholars
Forsyth Promise
Place Matters
Love Out Loud
Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods
The Twenty
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About Partnership for Prosperity:
Partnership for Prosperity is an initiative that grew out of The Mayor’s Poverty Thought Force and is governed by a Board of Directors. The United Way of Forsyth serves as the backbone or quarterback for the organization. There are two staff, the Director and a Community Engagement Associate. An Advisory Board is comprised of community leaders and graduates of ‘Getting Ahead in a Just Getting’ by World’ workshops and is where P4P seeks solutions from their expertise and lived experiences.
The vision of P4P is “a community where childhood poverty ceases to exist”. Our mission is to “align resources, eliminate silos and engage the community in advocating for policies that advance racial and other forms of equity and help our most vulnerable residents thrive”.