Phoenix Organizations Awarded $165,000 in Community Grants

The Aetna Foundation recently announced it has awarded $165,000 in community grants to two Phoenix nonprofit organizations as part of its Cultivating Healthy Communities initiative. Nearly 60 percent of a person’s life expectancy is driven by factors outside of the doctor’s office. Our personal choices, behaviors and actions, as well as our social and environmental factors, determine our overall health. Cultivating Healthy Communities is designed to promote healthy and active living, strengthen health equity and advance innovations that make it possible for people to have more healthy days.

The City of Phoenix Housing Department and the Friends of Public Radio Arizona are determined to positively contribute to the outside influences that determine our health. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, two out of three adults in Arizona are obese. Arizona’s obesity rates among children are equally as alarming, with the state ranked 15th in the nation for childhood obesity. Organizations are looking to lower these statistics by making the city a more active place to live.

A grant of $100,000 will be made to the Phoenix Housing Department to support the EEC Grid for All Program. The goal of the program is to make bike sharing affordable and accessible to residents who need it most by providing subsidized memberships to income-qualified individuals who live and work in the Edison-Eastlake community. The program incorporates bike safety education through workshops and classes hosted by the city and local organizations. Participants will receive helmets, bike lights and other safety gear to support responsible bicycle riding.

Additionally, the program will build social capital through community bike rides, allowing participants to interact with each other through cycling in a social and friendly environment. Community members who want to improve their fitness, but do not currently have access to equipment, will be able to use cycling as a fun, engaging form of exercise. Through these efforts, Grid for All will connect Edison-Eastlake community residents to the greater Phoenix area with additional transit and healthy lifestyle options.

A second grant of $65,000 has been made to Friends of Public Radio Arizona’s SPOT 127 program. The KJZZ Youth Media Center will develop and implement a peer-to-peer Digital Media Bullying and Cyberbullying Prevention Campaign. The content will be distributed through the Fall 2018 -- Spring 2019 semesters. All content will be created and produced by SPOT 127 high school students, informed by subject matter expert interviews, research and student experiences. This initiative will take place on a multi-platform social media campaign.

Thanks to the help of the Aetna Foundation and the Cultivating Healthy Communities initiative, Phoenix will be able to get moving and active around town on bikes, and be able to impact high school student’s mental health through radio.

To learn more about the Cultivating Healthy Communities initiative, please visit: https://news.aetna.com/news-releases/the-aetna-foundation-helps-improve-the-health-of-25-communities-nationwide-through-more-than-2-million-in-grants/.