The Community Engagement & Membership committee (CEMC) had its first meeting on April 29th, with the leadership of Steering Committee members Corey Yarbrough (Hispanic Black Gay Coalition) and Pat Milano (East Boston Collaborative for Families). The group was tasked with the challenge of reaching out to residents, building capacity and more organizational partnerships throughout all neighborhoods in Boston, many of which are goals outlined during a March 2013, planning meeting.
The goal of CEMC is to diversify community partnerships and increase resident involvement in BACH’s advocacy and health planning and improvement through education, communication and collaboration. About 20 new residents have been engaged in the committee. Meetings include discussions around MAPP, social determinants of health, health data and the impact of racism. They are also working to draft a communications plan for BACH. Some highlights to the work plan the include developing a cohesive education calendar, with a mix of community based trainings and BACH supported trainings, creating a more strategic way of sharing information with the BACH community through the use of social media and person-to-person communication and building new partnerships by reaching out to more community-based groups and identifying gaps in sector based partnerships to begin networking. CEMC has already begun to identify new groups, enhance social media presence and are working on producing a short video about community health and health equity as a tool to engage residents.
The Community Engagement & Membership Committee meets on the 4th Monday of the month. Please contact Jamiah Tappin at jtappin@hria.org for location and more information
Be sure to join us on social media!
