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CIRE builds off of our initial Community Innovations Initiative from 2019 to 2021. This Initiative will focus on building local BIPOC-led community development capacity, supporting community power, exploring innovative community ownership models, and addressing the barriers and gaps within community development and health partnerships to effectively propel racial equity.
We received immense interest in this opportunity with well over 100 applications! We selected 10 BIPOC-led CDCs to join our peer learning cohort. They represent diverse communities and projects that seek to shift community power. Making this decision was not easy, we received many excellent proposals from organizations advancing racial equity. We would like to thank everyone that submitted proposals and our advisory team for their time and effort during the decision making process. While 10 organizations will participate in the learning cohort, CIRE also includes a national learning series and tools for the field that we hope will provide opportunities for all of the applicants and advance the field well beyond.
It is an honor and privilege to partner with this incredible group of organizations working at the forefront of community development and health partnerships to effectively propel racial equity. The following organizations will be awarded $40,000 to support staff or a consultant to lead healthcare engagement, $60,000 of in-kind technical support provided by the BHPN, and facilitated connections to a national network of peer support:
Miami Workers Center – Miami, FL
Sankofa Community Development Corporation – New Orleans, LA
Cihuapactli Collective – Phoenix, AZ
Spanish Lake CDC – St. Louis, MO
Co-op Dayton – Dayton, OH
Communities First, Inc, – Flint, MI
MQVN Community Development Consortium – New Orleans, LA
Virginia Community Voice – Richmond, VA
African Economic Development Solutions – St. Paul, MN
Power Center Community Development Corporation – Memphis, TN
As a part of this initiative, Build Healthy Places Network has the opportunity to bring together a pool of BIPOC-consultants to support CDCs collaborate with healthcare to advance racial equity. Our consultant colleagues bring deep expertise across a range of sectors and content areas including healthcare, racial justice, community development, community power building, meaningful community engagement processes, public health, organizing, arts, and advocacy. Click here to learn more about our outstanding consultant team.