BACH has continued to reach out to Boston residents through our Community Engagement and Membership Committee (CEMC) through a renewed and revamped monthly workshop series. In an effort to increase outreach efforts for the renamed “Passport to Public Health” workshops, we have partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission’s (BPHC) Office of Community Engagement and Partner Relations to co-lead the planning process.

So far, we have put on 9 workshops over the last 9 months. Highlights include a presentation by Chief Resilience Officer, Dr. Atyia Martin, at our “Race, Resilience and Community Violence session,” which was met by a record attendance of over 70 people; a cross-sector discussion at our “Survivors, Supporters and Shelters: Domestic Violence Panel;” an informative lesson on senior mental health followed by chair yoga at our “Seniors Strong!” workshop; and a notable increase in resident attendance at all workshops. We’ll be finishing out the series over the next two months with workshops in Allston and Mattapan.

In addition to Passport to Public Health, BACH continues to carry out resident engagement through BachLEARN and Learning Community sessions. BachLEARN is our bi-weekly listing of local trainings, webinars, reports and conferences that relate to our five strategic issues. While we have been taking a break this summer, BachLEARN will begin again in mid-September.

So far we have held two Learning Community Sessions in 2016. This year, each session relates to one of our strategic issues. The first focused on Issues 1 and 5 and Boston’s Government Alliance on Race and Equity, and the second discussed Issue 2, specifically the role of community health workers. Our third Learning Community, on Issue 3, will be held on Monday, September 12th from 11am-2pm at the Julia Martin House in Jamaica Plain. It will  focus on the impact of trauma on children.

Let’s Get Healthy, Boston! (LGHB), BACH and BPHC’s CDC-funded initiative, also continues to focus on community engagement through their official Communications Plan and three media campaigns.

#IBikeBos was launched in June and includes images of community members and Healthy Community Champions riding their bikes on the MBTA, billboards, and throughout social media. The campaign goal is to promote biking as a form of transportation, and normalize a more diverse population of bikers.

On July 1, the second media campaign, #FarmFreshBos was launched with the goal of promoting the use of Bounty Bucks among SNAP recipients at local farmers markets. These posters, also featuring Healthy Community Champions, can be found on trashcans, the MBTA, and near market locations.

Whether it be through media campaigns or monthly workshops, BACH is committed to reaching residents and empowering them to organize and join our efforts to make Boston a more equitable place to live, work and play.