Funding Will Expand Youth-Driven Community Health Initiatives
Lawrence CommunityWorks and eight community partners are the recipients of a $5 million grant by the Atrius Health Equity Foundation to expand youth-led community health solutions in Lawrence that seek to ensure all residents have the opportunity to thrive. Lawrence is one of eight Massachusetts cities selected to receive funding.
LCW worked closely with community partners Lawrence General Hospital (LGH), Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC), Youth Development Organization (YDO), ACT Lawrence, SquashBusters Lawrence (SBL), Groundwork Lawrence (GWL), Elevated Thought (ET), Top Notch Scholars (TNS), Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW) as well as a “design team” of local youth and parents to create the winning initiative. The Lawrence project will focus on the vital need for mental health and wellness, social connection, health career pathways, and healthy neighborhoods for Lawrence families. Together, this partnership will give rise to a “youth hub” in Lawrence’s historic North Canal Mill District, which has burgeoned into a new neighborhood in the City over the past decade.
This award is part of the Youth as Health Care Change Agents grant program, a new initiative that funds community organizations in Eastern Massachusetts to support youth in their full potential as health educators, health navigators, future health care professionals, and community health advocates.
In Lawrence, health is shaped by social and economic factors such as housing security, employment, educational opportunities, community safety, access to healthy foods, access to medical and behavioral health services, and access to recreation and open space. LCW has been actively working in the community for the past 30 years as a nonprofit community development corporation driven by a fierce belief in the people and potential of Lawrence. LCW’s mission is the sustained revitalization of Lawrence through coordinated investments in the people, places, and systems of the city. LCW dedicates substantial resources to community organizing and social capital creation among both residents and institutions locally; operates programs in family asset building, workforce development, and youth development; and practices neighborhood-based planning and real estate development (both residential and commercial) to promote equity, affordability, and progress in the city.
In partnership with the Atrius Health Equity Foundation, LCW and its partners conducted a community design session that engaged 13 youth and 7 adults who interviewed 93 of their peers to inform program needs. The sessions highlighted the need for open conversations about mental health, and the invaluable role of youth in serving as community leaders to address enduring stigmas and challenges around mental health. Community members affirmed collaborative approaches to demystify and educate about mental health, amplify access to mental health resources, and provide leadership opportunities for youth to inspire them to consider careers within this area of work. The data clearly outlined the needs of the community and provided the partner organizations with the following program guidelines:
- Generate an Ecosystem that supports Youth Mental Health and Family Wellness
- Foster Youth Social Connectedness, Empowerment, and Leadership Development
- Create Economic Mobility and Health Employer Efficacy through Youth Career and Workforce Development
- Build a Healthy Family Neighborhood through Targeted Intervention and Place-Making
“This partnership draws on 15 years of work together that have built a strong culture of collaboration, trust, and joint progress towards common goals,” said LCW Executive Director Jessica Andors. “We have come together as partners and neighbors with a strong interest in deeply impacting equity and social determinants of health for families in this central, densely populated, emerging neighborhood. With this grant, we’re eager to continue centering youth voices and perspectives in building local health solutions that respond to our community’s needs and produce equitable health outcomes for all.”
One Design Team parent member said, “This generation of youth are going to make changes that in my own wildest dreams I couldn’t have imagined—and it starts with groups like this. Having these intergenerational sessions can educate parents and transform our children.”
Established in 2022 as an independent organization, the Atrius Health Equity Foundation carries forward Atrius Health’s historic focus on improving health outcomes for all. The Atrius Health Equity Foundation aims to close life expectancy gaps across Eastern Massachusetts by offering funding responsive to community priorities and that centers community leadership and collaboration.
“The Atrius Health Equity Foundation heard directly from community leaders in 2023 that economic mobility, educational opportunity, and youth as a population of focus are important to close the life expectancy gap. As a result of this community engagement and the Foundation’s belief that we must all come together to ensure everyone in Eastern Massachusetts lives a longer, healthier life, we created the Youth as Health Care Change Agents grant program,” said Dr. Ann Hwang, President of the Atrius Health Equity Foundation. “These efforts recognize organizations for their deep roots in the communities served and collaborative approach, and drive forward our vision for youth as powerful agents of change.”
Lawrence CommunityWorks is among eight awardees selected through a highly competitive and rigorous selection process shaped by community input. View the full list of awardees and learn more about Youth Change Agents at https://www.atriusfoundation.org/youthchange. More information about the work underway at Lawrence CommunityWorks can be found at https://www.lawrencecommunityworks.org/.
About the Atrius Health Equity Foundation Established in 2022 as an independent organization, the Atrius Health Equity Foundation carries forward Atrius Health’s historic focus on improving health outcomes for all. The Foundation’s grantmaking emphasizes collaboration and community leadership and seeks to achieve lasting impact by transforming systems to promote health equity, with the ultimate goal of creating a future where everyone in Eastern Massachusetts lives a longer, healthier life. More information about the Foundation’s work can be found at www.atriusfoundation.org.
MEDIA CONTACT: Lawrence CommunityWorks: Jessica Andors jandors@lawrencecommunityworks.org.
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