The Hammonton Gazette 11/29/17 Edition | Page 5

Hammonton Health Coalition wants $250,000 grant Page 4 • Wednesday, November 29, 2017 • The Hammonton Gazette GROUP, from Page 1 the meeting drew a crowd of more than 40 people who gathered at discussion tables moderated by members of the coalition in a World Café format in which atten- dees took turns switching tables to promote constant conversation. they were also encouraged to jot ideas down on paper table cloths in order to facilitate discussion for the next table groups. allies in Caring Chief execu- tive Director and MainStreet Hammonton board member ivette Guillermo-McGahee has been the driving force behind the Hammon- ton Health Coalition’s initiative and the ensuing meeting. Guillermo-McGahee said the World Café format is something practiced internationally and is a productive method of discussion because it encourages people to share and gives them a say in the matters being discussed, such as what areas of community health the BUiLD Health Challenge grant should be focused. “i learned about this format be- cause i participated in something similar in Mexico and in other countries. rather than coming and telling people what we should do, we need to listen to people. Com- munities have their own wisdom and that is a better way to bring people out,” Guillermo-McGahee said. Since the coalition was origi- nally formed, Guillermo-McGa- hee planned to leave it completely up to the community as to what services and programs related to health a potential BUiLD Health Challenge grant would fund. Questions were asked during the meeting, including “What does a culture of health look like? When you think of Hammonton, do you feel it’s your community? What is your biggest community health concern?” and more in the hopes of developing a set of goals for the coalition to strive for. Laura Cronk has assisted Guillermo-McGahee through the BUiLD Health Challenge/Ham- monton Health Coalition process and was one of the table modera- tors during the meeting. Cronk said valuable, deep conversation was generated during the meeting and the coalition is anticipating hosting more meetings in the fu- ture, which should generate even more feedback as word continues to spread. “i think people are showing an interest and have some ideas, and i think if we engage them a second time, i think they’ll start thinking at home and with their friends. then, we’ll come up with some- thing that’s innovative, really mak- ing a change in Hammonton,” Cronk said. the town can next apply for the BUiLD Health Challenge in 2019 if they are unsuccessful this year, according to Guillermo-McGahee. However, she said more funding opportunities related to commu- nity health will become available, and having a group like the Ham- monton Health Coalition in place showing that there is a strong com- munity devotion to physical health will only increase their odds of re- ceiving future grants. “We want to work together so that we engage the community and create solutions together with the community … So, BUiLD Health is one of the funding opportunities but there are many other funding opportunities. the key in all the funding opportunities is ‘is the community committed?’ they want to see that, and if they see that the community is actually in- terested, and they are going to put their energy in, it’s more likely we will get the support,” Guillermo- McGahee said.