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The concept of partnering with others to achieve goals, build consensus or reach more people is nothing new. Boston, in particular, has a rich history of community leaders, grassroots organizations and larger institutions partnering with one another to improve community health. Improving the health and well-being of children and families is one of Children's Hospital Boston's four core missions, and partnerships have always been central to our strategy for transforming that mission statement into action. We're continuously looking for ways to strengthen and deepen our community partnerships, and I'd like to highlight some of our recent efforts to do so.
One thing we've done is to align our partnerships with the different roles we play within the Boston community: as a good neighbor to those communities in which the hospital and our own Martha Eliot Health Center (MEHC) are located; as a health partner working with city and community agencies to improve the health of Boston's children and families; and as a major employer and civic leader dedicated to the overall health of the city that's been our home for 140 years.
As a pediatric hospital, it's no surprise that many of our partnerships focus on the health of children and families. We also value partnerships that support the social, environmental and economic health of our surrounding neighborhoods: Jamaica Plain, Fenway, Roxbury and Mission Hill. One way that we act on this commitment to being a good neighbor is through our small grants program, the Community Partnerships Fund (CPF), which prioritizes funding for organizations in these four neighborhoods. Our goal is to support smaller, innovative groups such as the Roxbury-based EarthWorks Projects, which trains youth to grow fresh, organic fruit in urban orchards. Our commitment to being a good neighbor also involves working with MEHC to provide training to a coalition of community health centers, public housing developments and community residents to formalize a community-based response to violence in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury.
Our commitment to being a community health partner involves looking to community residents, community organizations, the Boston Public Schools (BPS) and the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) to identify the health issues that are of the greatest concern to Boston children and families. By working with partners and conducting regular community needs assessments, we have been able to design programs that respond to some of the pressing community health needs for Boston children: asthma, mental health, obesity and injury prevention.
Children's approach also involves looking for opportunities to fill gaps in the healthcare system and to promote systemic change that can benefit children and families beyond those who participate directly in our programs. For example, we are building upon our current mental health partnership with the BPS to engage in a collaborative effort to identify all of the partnerships that exist throughout the BPS system. The hospital has also been a lead partner in a statewide, 130-member coalition that passed legislation to reform the mental health care system for children in Massachusetts. And we're teaming up with the BPHC to hold mental health forums across the city to solicit community input on how this new law should be implemented.
Children's also recognizes the importance of being an active civic leader, which includes playing a role in civic organizations devoted to the economic health of the city, including the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and A Better City, among others. In addition, Children's has actively participated in the launch and implementation of "Thrive in 5," a public/private collaboration focused on getting all the city's children ready for school. Our commitment to Boston's future includes providing young people with exposure to health careers through summer jobs. Last year, working with the Private Industry Council, the Parker Hill/Fenway ABCD, the Gateway program, Bromley-Heath Tenant Management Corporation and the Hyde Square Task Force, Children's provided 54 Boston high school students with full-time, paid summer jobs at the hospital through a comprehensive program offering professional development as well as workshops on financial literacy and applying to college.
Children's strongly believes that far more can be achieved working together than alone. Thus, building upon and always learning from our partners will continue to be a key part of our community mission. Together, we'll never give up on ensuring Boston remains a great city for children and families now and into the future.
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