The Alliance for Health Equity launches Let’s Talk: Community-Designed Solutions focusing on Health and Wellbeing on November 16, 2023
The Alliance for Health Equity (The Alliance) announces the launch of Let’s Talk: Community-Designed Solutions 2.0 (CDS Challenge) as part of its Community Voice strategy. The CDS Challenge invests in community-created solutions by empowering Coatesville citizens in the places where they live, lifting their voices, and building their power to shape the services and programs that affect them.
The first session, on Thursday, November 16, will provide Coatesville residents with the tools and training to design, develop and strengthen their ideas and solutions related to community health and wellbeing. The session will convene seven (7) CDS participants, co-investors, The Alliance’s grantmaking committee, and partners at the Brandywine Center 4th Floor (744 East Lincoln Highway, Coatesville PA 19320) from 4:30 – 6:30 PM. Key panelists and attendees will vote for the best CDS presentations to receive one $2,500 award, one $1,000 award, and three $500 awards.
The Alliance is currently seeking individuals, organizations, and businesses to submit their ideas and solutions of the community’s status on health and wellbeing as they are the experts in their own experiences. Interested community members will submit their ideas and understandings via an online portal by October 20th. The Alliance team will then supply personalized training and guidance on how to develop a sustainable solution based on their idea that includes a gap analysis, financials, team profiles, and timeline. Once training is complete, the community member officially becomes a CDS participant and is prepared to present their solution on November 16th. Community members interested in listening in and voting for solutions are encouraged to attend the CDS Challenge. Sign up to attend here.
Additional CDS Challenge 2.0 sessions will take place on January 23rd, March 26th, and May 29th and will each have a different presentation topic. January’s topic is employment, education, and small business development, March’s topic is housing, and May’s topic is healthy environments.
The CDS Challenge is a revised version of the first series that took place from February – June 2023. The First series gathered twenty-eight (28) community members to present their solutions in front of over 100 community members. $25,000 in awards were distributed in five (5) months and an additional $70,000 was selected by The Alliance’s grantmaking committee to be divided between seven (7) nonprofit presentations.
“The Let’s Talk Series enhanced my experience of public speaking and increased my confidence in sharing my idea on the Buddy System to improve the mental health among youth in Coatesville. – Ragha Mohan, West Chester University MPH Student and CDS Challenge Presenter
All interested community members are encouraged to sign up to begin the process of developing and sharing their solution for monetary awards. To ensure the solution is sustainable after presentation, The Alliance will continue to guide solutions development and provide personalized capacity building coaching as needed.
The Alliance for Health Equity (The Alliance) is a place-based nonprofit organization who serves the geographic region of the Coatesville Area School District. Formed as a health conversion foundation, the organization utilizes its strategic priorities of Integrated Health, Healthy Environments, and Community Voice to advance a more equitable, resilient and healthy Greater Coatesville community. To date, The Alliance has distributed over $21 million dollars to Coatesville serving nonprofit and grassroots organizations, developed and scaled various programs relating to nonprofit capacity, youth development, and racial/social equity, and build ChesPenn Health Services, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Coatesville. Learn more about The Alliance at alliancehealthequity.org.