Association member Carilion Clinic, in Roanoke, Va., is located in one of the city’s most forgotten and overlooked neighborhoods, says Mark Lawrence, vice president of governmental and external affairs at the health system.
In the Fallon Park neighborhood of southeast Roanoke, one in four people live at or below the federal poverty level, and one in five people don’t have health insurance.
When a series of community health assessments indicated food and housing insecurity, mental health needs, and other medical needs, including substance use disorder, the health system knew it needed to intervene.
“To reach people on a personal level, we need to build trust with them, with people that they can relate to,” says Shirley Holland, MBA, vice president of planning and community development at Carilion. “It’s about building a sense of community and being present in a community where you show up, you listen, and then you work together to create solutions.”
In February 2022, Carilion opened the Local Impact for Tomorrow (LIFT) Center, a health and wellness initiative for Fallon Park Elementary School students and their immediate families. The school is located behind Carilion Clinic’s largest hospital, Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
The LIFT Center features a pediatric clinic, dental services, mental health services, and other community programming, all on school grounds. The program connects students and their families with a community health worker to meet their individual needs.
LIFT is sponsored by a coalition of community partners, including the Delta Dental of Virginia Foundation, Freedom First Credit Union, and Roanoke City Public Schools.
“Partnership has really added a lot of value to the collaborative. We’re able to leverage strengths and resources and really work together because these issues are deep, they’re systemic, and we are not able to solve them alone,” says Aaron Boush, director of community health and outreach.
Boush explains that establishing a strong sense of partnership, both at the administrative and community level, is critical for holistic community health.
“Social connectedness is part of social determinants, and we’re really trying to build a sense of community within this elementary school, [and also] within this broader southeast neighborhood,” he says.
In 2018, Carilion took part in opening the Morningside Urban Farm, a community garden where residents can access fresh food, learn to grow their own food, and take classes on a variety of topics, such as nutrition, gardening, mindfulness, fitness, arts, traditional crafting, and more.
Carilion established the garden in collaboration with several community stakeholders, including the City of Roanoke’s Department of Parks and Recreation, the Virginia Cooperative Extension, Leap for Local Foods, and I LOVE SE.
“We knew that this neighborhood had low access to healthy food, so we started talking to neighbors,” explains Boush. “We learned that there was a lot of interest in growing food, but not a lot of neighbors had access.”
The farm produces an estimated 900 pounds of produce per year, available to those who participate in free gardening and educational programs at the farm.
Locals can grow their own produce at the neighboring LEAP for Local Foods Community Garden for a small annual fee.
Boush also made note that the farm reflects the area’s unique history.
“A lot of the older people that had lived in that community talked about how important growing up with gardens was in their timeframe and how they miss that access to local foods. That was the impetus of working with the city, going to Morningside Park, and building that farm,” says Boush.
In 2023, Carilion launched weekly “Community Nights” with educational and wellness activities for people of all ages. Ninety-six percent of attendees have reported learning something new about healthy living because of the program, and 88 percent report that their overall well-being has improved as a result.
Lawrence explains that Carilion’s initiatives have brought a much-needed revival to the southeast Roanoke community.
“What this has done [is] transform the way that the neighborhood and the community think about Southeast Roanoke. Their psyche was just so beat up,” he explains.
Both Lawrence and Holland say the initiatives have led to additional development in the community and greater city funding.
“It’s a good example of how a hospital or a health care organization can positively influence a community or neighborhood from a community health and community development perspective, showing that we really value this community and are willing to invest in it and to participate in it,” Holland says.
Author