Sullivan 180
- Project Title: Sullivan 180
- Grant Period: FY2022 Rural Health Network Development Planning Program, 2022-2023
- Program Representative Interviewed: Amanda Langseder, Managing Director and Shanna Nigro, Director of Development
- Location: Sullivan County, New York
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Program Overview: Sullivan 180 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a
healthy community through people, places, and policy. In 2023, Sullivan 180 joined with Sullivan
Renaissance to create opportunities to focus on neighborhood beautification, community development,
and community engagement. Sullivan 180 offers many different programs including Empowering a Healthier Generation,
Encouraging Healthy Behaviors,
Community Development, Beautification, Catskill Edible Garden Project, prevention programs, and the
Healthiest Fire Department Challenge. Each program offers helpful resources and activities that
promote a healthy way of living.
Sullivan 180 built the Empowering a Healthier Generation Council which offers resources to schools that encourage health and wellness among staff, parents, and their communities. The goal is to create a movement that will change policy and environments in school districts. The Encouraging Healthy Behavior program provides insight on how to live a healthier life by reducing smoking, vaping, and obesity, as well as increasing physical activity. The program is helping residents learn about managing and lowering their risk for chronic disease and offers free workshops and training with interactive learning.
Through Sullivan 180, residents can become a Community Health Champion. Community health champions are local volunteers who commit to serving as coaches and leaders for community members who are ready to improve their health. The champions offer support to help people take proactive steps in improving their health including chronic disease management. Sullivan 180 has also created the Community Resource Guide 2023 to connect residents to local resources to improve their health.
In addition, the Sullivan Hands4Health Network, which ran through June 2022, was created as a community health worker (CHW) program for Sullivan County residents dually affected by chronic disease and social determinants of health (SDOH). The Pathways Community HUB Institute (PCHI) model was researched and chosen by the Hands4health Network as a viable CHW program for the county. However, no single organization had the capacity to get it started and funding to do so was not available. The Hands4health network switched gears and chose to use volunteer community health champions to improve the health and well-being of people living with chronic diseases. They utilized these volunteers as CHWs to help residents disproportionately affected by SDOH manage their chronic conditions with the goal of reducing hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and to improve the quality of life.
In addition, the Hands4Health partners looked at ways to use funding to provide stipends for community health champions to become certified to lead evidence-based health promotion and intervention programs throughout the county. This effort shows great promise as an interim solution to the lack of a more fully developed CHW program.