Communities Receive ACHIEVE Grant

Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental changE (ACHIEVE)
Photo: A woman gardening

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Healthy Communities Program is pleased to announce that our national partners have newly selected 15 new ACHIEVE initiatives. Supported by the CDC, the following ACHIEVE national partners fund and provide technical assistance products to communities:

National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD)
National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA)
YMCA of the USA (Y-USA)
Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE)

In each ACHIEVE community, community leaders work in partnership with all community sectors, community agencies and organizations, and state and local public health professionals to accomplish their goals—population-based strategies that foster sustainable improvements in local systems and environments. Examples of ACHIEVE goals include increased community access to healthful food options where people live, learn, work, and play; improvements in physical infrastructure to encourage physical activity; and creating smoke-free parks and other settings.

CDC's Healthy Communities Program

Chronic diseases and conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and arthritis, are pervasive health problems in the United States, affecting almost 50% of the population and accounting for 7 of the 10 leading causes of death nationally. Preventable risk factors such as tobacco use and exposure, insufficient physical activity, and poor nutrition contribute greatly to the development and severity of many chronic diseases.¹
In response, the CDC's Healthy Communities Program is working to reduce risk factors related to chronic disease while promoting health equity in communities throughout the country. Through this effort, community coalitions are able to develop and promote strategies to make sustainable changes to local systems and environments. These changes, in turn, help to address major health risk factors—tobacco, physical inactivity, and unhealthful eating. To date, the program has funded 331 communities and 52 state and territorial health departments through Strategic Alliance for Health (SAH), ACHIEVE, Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC), STEPS, and the U.S. State and Territorial Health Collaborative.

2012 ACHIEVE Communities

For the first time, a mentoring component has been added, which will help contribute to the sustainability of this work. Each community is paired with a mentor, which is a previously funded ACHIEVE community that has shown success in implementing priority strategies. These mentor communities will provide support and technical assistance to the newly-funded communities.
The new ACHIEVE coalitions will build on the successes of the 134 previously funded communities. ACHIEVE coalition leaders will participate in a Coaches Meeting, scheduled for February in Atlanta, Georgia, and in an ACHIEVE Action Institute, scheduled for April in Atlanta, Georgia. During both events, community teams will learn how to develop effective partnerships and strategies that lead to and sustain positive community health changes.
¹ Healthy Communities Program At A Glance