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Indiana State University
College of Nursing, Health and Human Services
The growing trend in healthcare is to focus on the biological, psychological, social and environmental factors that influence the health and wellness of an individual. This includes, but is not limited to, education on how to cook healthy meals, reduce stress, engagement in physical activity, creating safe neighborhoods, promoting healthy air, water and soil, and gaining competency in financial literacy.
Sycamore Community-Based Wellness Center
The purpose of the Center is to educate and empower individuals and families to live lifestyles that will reduce health care costs.Employers are now faced with providing health insurance to employees, which only adds to existing issues such as time lost due to illness or injury. A community wellness center, located in a neighborhood experiencing poor health, social and environment outcomes, provides an opportunity for health promotion that will lift individuals out of this poor health cycle.
Goal: Establish a center in partnership with a Terre Haute neighborhood that will provide health promotion programming (knowledge and skill building classes, health screening), experiential learning opportunities and community-based participatory research programs all aimed that improving the health and social conditions of residents.
Plan: Recruit community and corporate financial support to establish and effectively operate the center for three years.
Funds Needed:
1)Stand-alone center: $250,000 to purchase a building, renovate if needed and maintain it for three years; Center Director: $75,000 annually or $1M endowment to hire a director for the center; Utilities: $20,000 annually or $500,000 endowment to pay utilities, associated liability costs
2)Partnered center: $24,000 annually or $250,000 endowment to pay for shared space; Center Director: $75,000 annually or $1M endowment to hire a director for the center
3)Equipment estimated at $50,000
Goal: Establish a system of programs that will address the immediate health and social needs of the neighborhood.
Plan: Survey neighborhood leaders and residents to determine the priority order of program(s). Establish a connection and trust among residents to participate in the Center and take ownership of it, as an integral part of their localized community. After working together to create a list of prioritized needs, disseminate the plan among the neighborhood leaders to gain support of the rest of the residents. Implement the programs on a schedule that is agreeable to those that will participate in order to encourage continued support.
Funds needed:
1)$25,000 annually or $500,000 endowment to sustain continued programming and supplies.
Create Opportunities for Experiential Learning
Indiana State University prides itself on being ranked #1 nationally in community service by Washington Monthly magazine. The engagement of the University in the community is a vital part of its relationship with Terre Haute, but also an aspect of education heavily sought after post-graduation. The Center will provide a space for hands-on experience that cannot be obtained in other settings. ISU Students will be able to interact in a real environmentwith real outcomes. This will provide new research opportunities, work experiences prior to graduation, and interaction with the general public.The majority of programs offered at the Center will be provided by ISU students out of the College of Health and Human Services under the supervision of the Center Director and ISU faculty.
Plan: Students, faculty, and community members will work to design, develop, implement and evaluate programming. This will be an essential part of the relationship development between the community, the Center and the University; establishing a level of trust not yet achieved from community/university perspectives. Though the students will not be paid, an award stipend should be established.
1)Funds Needed: $20,000 annually or $100,000 endowment to provide stipend funding for student participants.
Obtain Funding Based on Collected Data
The majority of grant opportunities available are reliant on data. Very few opportunities exist for capital to purchase equipment or structures. Centered on programs, most grants require established consistency with measured outcomes to support and sustain future ventures. It is understood that large grant funding will not be available for the first two to three years of the operation of the Center because of these typical requirements.
Goal: Maintain Center programming long enough to establish measurable outcomes in order to provide support for grant funding initiatives.
Plan: When sufficient data have been collected and programs are shown to be successful, apply for state, federal and national non-profit grants that will sustain the Center. Other opportunities and interest will be generated from local and national business partners.
Build Corporate Partnerships
Ideally we would like to have corporate participation from the beginning. While we are hopeful this will occur, the longer the Center is available and providing positive results for its participants, the more evidence based information can be carried forward for opportunities to receive larger amounts of funding from corporate partners.
Goal: Recruit support from local businesses to establish the Center with sponsorship participation; become a venue that serves the health promotion needs of individuals employed by local industry.
Plan: Create awareness and spread information about the Center initiative to businesses most likely to take an initial interest in the project.