Houston Organizations Awarded More than $180,000 in Grants

The Aetna Foundation recently announced it has awarded $189,885 in community grants to two Houston nonprofit organizations as part of its Cultivating Healthy Communities initiative.

Grants are awarded to organizations committed to promoting healthy and active living, strengthening health equity and advancing innovations that make it possible for people to have more healthy days.

The Aetna Foundation has awarded $89,885.00 to the Houston Health Foundation. Funds will be used towards the Urban Agriculture Program, which will guide immigrant youth in the Gulfton neighborhood of Houston in a youth-led urban agriculture enterprise. Two cohorts of young adult leaders will grow native specialty crops and host a farm stand at the Get Moving Houston Farmers Market. Participates will learn about planning, coordination, planting and supply acquisition, all while gaining key planning skills, communication strategies, health literacy and knowledge of native crops This grant comes at a critical time when Houston’s teenage obesity rates are more than 33 percent and continues to increase year over year.

A second grant, of $100,000, was given to Air Alliance Houston (AAH) to help change the built-environment with the goal of reducing exposure to traffic-related air pollution. In addition, AAH is working to increase physical activity among children at four priority campuses in the Pasadena Independent School District. This program comes when 6.7 million people in the Houston Metro area are experiencing weeks’ worth of degraded air quality every year.

AAH plans to use the grant money to increase residents’ knowledge about the impact of traffic related air pollution on children’s health as well as establish pop up bike lanes, sidewalks, and other ways to get communities active while reducing fuel emissions. Through this project, AAH will reach over 2,800 children and 150 school staff plus parents.

To learn more about the Cultivating Healthy Communities initiative, please visit: https://news.aetnafoundation.org/press-release/health-care-equity/aetna-foundation-awards-more-24-million-grants-help-improve-health-.