Source: THUNDERMIST HEALTH CENTER submitted to
THUNDERMIST HEALTH CENTER WOONSOCKET FOOD SYSTEM ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING PROJECT
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
EXTENDED
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1006978
Grant No.
2015-33800-23989
Project No.
RI.W-2015-05135
Proposal No.
2015-05135
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
LN.B
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2015
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2017
Grant Year
2015
Project Director
Nocera, L.
Recipient Organization
THUNDERMIST HEALTH CENTER
450 CLINTON ST
WOONSOCKET,RI 02895
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Woonsocket, a city in northern Rhode Island, is home to 41,000 residents (US Census Bureau, 2013). Woonsocket is a former mill town that has struggled since the collapse of the mill industry. Although Woonsocket only comprises 4% of Rhode Island's population, the city contains half of the food deserts in the whole state. Mapping data highlights that a large percentage of Woonsocket residents live in limited supermarket area (RI Data Hub). Many parts of Woonsocket are classified a food desert when taking into account low income, proximity to retail outlets, and vehicle access (USDA Food Access Research Atlas, 2015, Attachment 4). In one sample, two of five residents reported very or somewhat serious problems with affordable food choices (CCA, 2013 Needs Assessment). The lack of reliable transportation poses a further barrier to accessing the area's single grocery store (Woonsocket Call, 2011).Food insecurity disproportionately impacts children, who are especially vulnerable to food-related health ramifications. Only 71% of income eligible women and children in Woonsocket participate in WIC, lower than the average of other core RI cities (RI Kids Count, 2014). Sadly, the WIC participation rate dropped from 87% in 2010 to the current 71%. Those who are on WIC have difficulty redeeming their benefits; there is no full service supermarket in Woonsocket that accepts WIC. Only 41% of people on WIC redeemed their WIC Farmers Market Nutrition coupons at weekly Farmers Markets. There is also low uptake of free and reduced price school meals. Only 2 out of 5 low-income children in Rhode Island participated in free school breakfast, even though breakfast is provided universally (RI Kids Count, 2014).Strikingly, over one-third of residents in Woonsocket receive SNAP, a number so large that it has received national press (Washington Post, 2013). There is no local data to determine the percent of those eligible who receive SNAP. As reported by the Washington Post (2013), local food stores do the vast majority of sales in the first week of the month due to SNAP distribution on the first of the month; this creates a challenging business environment.As evidenced by the above data, there are significant food systems challenges and gaps. The overarching mission of this project is to understand and address food systems gaps in Woonsocket utilizing a community-engaged methodology. This understanding will allow different programs and organizations to coalesce and mutually reinforce each other; it will further ensure that resources which have been allocated to Woonsocket -- including the Health Equity Zone project, Improving Obesity Together, Choice Neighborhoods, Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, Farmers Market Promotion program, and others -- are coordinated and truly addressing community-identified needs. The project team has identified the following goals and objectives. Outcome Goals Reduce food insecurity in low-income Woonsocket residents:Understand and address why low-income residents underutilize the current weekly, year-round farmers' market in Woonsocket:Understand the root causes and correlates of childhood obesity in Woonsocket:To create a plan for space transformation in Woonsocket:Process Goals Build community engagement/participation, with emphasis on low income residents:Increase food producer and food retailer engagement:Build cross-sector collaborations: Objectives:Meet the food needs of low income individuals;Community self reliance; and Promote comprehenisve responsese to food system challenges.In order to meet the above goals and objectives, the project team has developed a comprehensive work plan. Activities included in the work plan include conductingcommunity meetings/community listening sessions, key informant interviews, focus groups, and inventorying local food system assets and gaps. This process will result in a comprehensive food system assesment and work plan to guide the community in addressing key food systems challenges.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
80560501010100%
Knowledge Area
805 - Community Institutions, Health, and Social Services;

Subject Of Investigation
6050 - Communities, areas, and regions;

Field Of Science
1010 - Nutrition and metabolism;
Goals / Objectives
Outcome Goals Reduce food insecurity in low-income Woonsocket residents:Understand and address why low-income residents underutilize the current weekly, year-round farmers' market in Woonsocket:Understand the root causes and correlates of childhood obesity in Woonsocket:To create a plan for space transformation in Woonsocket:Process Goals Build community engagement/participation, with emphasis on low income residents:Increase food producer and food retailer engagement:Build cross-sector collaborations: Objectives:Meet the food needs of low income individuals;Community self reliance; and Promote comprehenisve responsese to food system challenges.
Project Methods
Project will include community meetings, key informant interviews, focus groups, and inventorying local resources.

Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16

Outputs
Target Audience:We have three specific target audiences. The first is low-income residents of Woonsocket. We reached them via surveying (n=352), hosting two focus groups, and dissemination efforts including several meetings and our open annual meeting. We also aim to target peer organizations in Woonsocket to strengthen our cross collaboration. We have engaged these partners and this project through our Health Equity Zone, a department of Health funded collective impact project that includes 17 organizations from the health, education, social services, farmers market, and other areas. We have brought this into our Food Access work group. Finally, we target key stakeholders in the state, including at the Department of Health and other agencies. We have held several meetings with these stakeholders to discuss the project. There is more information about this under our dissemination plan. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have taken many efforts to disseminate the results. We have had stakeholder meetings with: the Department of Health (including the WIC office), our local community ambassadors (residents who are employed to provide feedback to our programs), Johnson and Wales University (a culinary school), the regional USDA office, our cross-sector Woonsocket Health Equity Zone food access group, and University of Rhode Island's SNAP outreach program. We also made this project the focus of our annual meeting of the Health Equity Zone. Many community members and organizations attended this event, including the Mayor of Woonsocket. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? ?We have made great progress towards our progress and outcome goals. We conducted, in conjunction with KK&P, a food systems consultant, a comprehensive needs assessment of Woonsocket. As part of this plan, we interviewed 17 stakeholders, held two focus groups, and surveyed over 350 residents. This helped us understand and address why low-income residents underutilize the weekly farmers markets, as well as the root causes of childhood obesity in Woonsocket. From this plan, we also worked to create a food action plan. As part of this plan is a goal for space transformation, including utilizing a kitchen incubator space in the city, as well as to improve uptake of the weekly farmers market. This needs assessment helped inform an action plan that has a clear plan for how to implement these strategies. This needs assessment and action plan position us well to implement strategies to reduce food insecurity in low-income Woonsocket residents, as well as to meet the objectives of: meeting the food needs of low income individuals, community self reliance, and promoting comprehensive responses to food system challenges. We have taken great efforts to engage important stakeholders in the creation of the needs assessment and plan, including low-income residents, food producers and retailers, and other cross-sector collaborations; this has met our process goals. We have integrated this process and project into our Health Equity Zone, a collective impact, local initiative.

Publications


    Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience:We have three specific target audiences. The first is low-incomeresidents of Woonsocket. We reachedthem via surveying (n=352), hosting two focus groups, and dissemination efforts including several meetings and our open annual meeting. We also aim to target peer organizations in Woonsocket to strengthen our cross collaboration. We have engaged these partners and this project through our Health Equity Zone, a department of Health funded collective impact project that includes 17 organizations from the health, education, social services, farmers market, and other areas. We have brought this into our Food Access work group. Finally, we target key stakeholders in the state, including at the Department of Health and other agencies. We have held several meetings with these stakeholders to discuss the project. There is more information about this under our dissemination plan. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have taken many efforts to disseminate the results. We have had stakeholder meetings with: the Department of Health (including the WIC office), our local community ambassadors (residents who are employed to provide feedback to our programs), Johnson and Wales University (a culinary school), the regional USDA office,our cross-sector Woonsocket Health Equity Zonefood access group,and University of Rhode Island's SNAP outreach program. We also made this project the focus of our annual meeting of the Health Equity Zone. Many community members and organizations attended this event, including the Mayor of Woonsocket. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to work on dissemination of the plan, including with additional organizations. This will help with our process goals. We will also work on prioritizing pieces of the food action plan to implement, including how to partner with organizations to do so and how to center the voices of community residents in this plan.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? We have made great progress towards our progress and outcome goals. We conducted, in conjunction with KK&P, a food systems consultant, a comprehensive needs assessment of Woonsocket. As part of this plan, we interviewed 17 stakeholders, held two focus groups, and surveyed over 350 residents. This helped us understand and address why low-income residents underutilize the weekly farmers markets, as well as the root causes of childhood obesity in Woonsocket. From this plan, we also worked to create a food action plan. As part of this plan is a goal for space transformation, including utilizing a kitchen incubator space in the city, as well as to improve uptake of the weekly farmersmarket.This needs assessment helped inform an action plan that has a clear plan for how to implement these strategies. This needs assessment and action plan position us well to implement strategies to reduce food insecurity in low-income Woonsocket residents, as well as to meet the objectives of: meeting the food needs of low income individuals, community self reliance, and promoting comprehensive responses to food system challenges. We have taken great efforts to engage important stakeholders in the creation of the needs assessment and plan, including low-income residents, food producers and retailers, and other cross-sector collaborations; this has met our process goals. We have integrated this process and project into our Health Equity Zone, a collective impact, local initiative.

    Publications