School’s out, and so is the sun, all day long. While outdoor activity is important for good health, too much sun exposure can lead to skin cancer. Prevention is a crucial component of a culture of health. Preventing skin cancer requires protection from UV rays all year, not just during the summer. UV rays can reach you on cloudy and cool days, and they reflect off surfaces like water, cement, and sand. There are many ways to protect yourself from the sun, and it’s important to use more than just one.
What You Can Do For Yourself.
Timing: In Mississippi, peak summer sun is usually from 10 AM to 5 PM. Avoid lengthy outdoor activities during this time, and ensure you have extra protection during these hours.
Shade: Shade from trees, umbrellas, tents, or shelters provides a lot of UV protection. Depending on the type of tree or fabric that creates the shade, this can be as effective as a weak or strong sunscreen. It’s important to use sunscreen even when you’re in the shade.
Clothing: While specialty clothing for sun protection does exist, all clothing provides some protection from the sun. Long sleeves and pants protect more than short, and dry clothing protects better than wet. Clothes made from tightly woven fabric offer the best protection. Use cover-ups to protect yourself at the beach or when you frequently go from pool to poolside.
Hat: The wider the rim, the more protection a hat will offer. Hats, rather than caps, have the added benefit of also protecting your ears. If you’re wearing a cap, protect the back of your neck with clothing and/or sunscreen.
Sunglasses: Your eyes are vulnerable to the sun as well! Not only your eyeballs, but the sensitive skin around them. Sunglasses can help.
Sunscreen: Remember the sunscreen! Put on a broad-spectrum sunscreen that filters out UVA and UVB rays and has an SPF of 15 or higher before you go outside. Put a thick layer on all exposed skin. Remember, sunscreen works best when combined with other options.
If you know of someone out there who is working hard to make Mississippi a healthier place, let us know!
Partner Spotlight: The Department of Mental Health and the Continuum of Care
2024 is the 75th anniversary of Mental Health Awareness Month. There are myriad connections between physical health, mental health, and the community. The social determinants of health, one of UProot’s two priority areas, affect mental health as much as they do physical health.
The DMH CoC provides three layers of care: Someone to talk to, someone to respond, and somewhere to go. The first layer, “someone to talk to,” is in the form of the national 988 hotline, and also a statewide DMH crisis line.
Someone to Talk To
The first layer of the CoC should be the one with the widest reach, the one that is easiest to access. For DMH, it’s as simple as a phone call, text message, or web chat. An easy-to-use, public-facing point of contact is important. For most groups, a phone number, email or contact form on a website is enough.
For DMH, “someone to respond” is a “Crisis Intervention Team.” They are partnerships between law enforcement officers and various agencies, including Community Mental Health Centers, primary health providers, and other behavioral health professionals. They are well-trained in crisis situations, and unlike traditional law enforcement officers, they receive hands-on instruction in de-escalation techniques. They are there to divert individuals from a possible arrest and get them into a setting where they can receive services for their illness.
Key takeaways for community organizations can be applicable. First, crisis teams come to the people who need them. Your organization can manage this by bringing portable versions of your services to people where they work, live, or play.
The second notable feature is that it represents an escalation of involvement from the previous example.
For a group promoting breastfeeding, for example, having a single point of contact to answer questions and email or text information would be the “someone to talk to.” Then, your second layer of preparation would be “someone to respond.”
Your organization can build a presentation in a box – with flyers, banners, posters with QR codes, promotional merch – everything a knowledgeable, trained ambassador would need.
A great example of covering both “someone to talk to” and “someone to respond” would be Move to Learn. M2L has videos available for classrooms, but can also bring fitness exercises and movement-based learning boosters to schools across Mississippi.
Some Place to Go
For DMH, the third layer of the CoC—some place to go—is a statewide network of facilities. For people in a psychiatric crisis, they have Crisis Stabilization Units, which provide stabilization and treatment services, while for more general care, there is a network of Community Mental Health Centers.
“A place to go” has been a cornerstone for many of our UProot success stories.
Consider Operation Shoestring. Without their facility, their life-improving after school programs could not exist. Their entire service is centered around being a place for their community.
Similarly, the ARK in Jackson is a place people can go for fitness and education. Both of these organizations offer people who can come speak and work in the community, and have singular, easy-to-use points of contact, showing that the concept of a Continuum of Care isn’t just for dedicated healthcare professionals, but for any community looking to improve their social determinants of health.
A “place to go” doesn’t have to be brick and mortar: your website can provide a resource guide, for example, and many municipalities have a community center to host programming.
Community Tips
Your organization may not need all three steps of the continuum of care. They may need more than three. Consider having more than one level of response, whatever service you provide.
This continuum does not represent all of what the Department of Mental Health does. To learn more about the Department of Mental Health and its many forms of care, visit dmh.ms.gov.
To request specialized suicide prevention presentations from the Department of Mental Health’s “Shatter the Silence” program, visit Shatter the Silence or call 601-359-1288.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, the helpline mentioned earlier is available at 1-877-210-8513, at mentalhealthms.com, or via the national 988 hotline.
If you know of someone out there who is working hard to make Mississippi a healthier place, let us know!
Utica Food Club: Fighting a Food Desert with Community Organizing
After a grocery store left Utica, Mississippi, residents organized to address the fact that their community had become a food desert.
Utica: From agricultural haven to food desert
Since the ’90s, the economy and population of Utica have been declining. Schools and plants closed, ending relationships with the local Sunflower grocery store and leaving fewer people to travel into town as customers. Finally, in 2014, the store closed, turning Utica into a food desert. The nearest grocery store was in Clinton, 30 miles away.
In 2023, the Mississippi Free Press interviewed Jean Greene of Utica as part of a story on food deserts. When asked about the grocery store closure, she said, “It was an economic decision… And so the rest of us paid the price for that economic decision.”
Though the grocery store’s closure was the final step to becoming a food desert, it was a shock to long-time Utica residents. Like many towns in Mississippi, Utica has a long history of food production and agricultural education.
Last century, Utica was home to the Utica Institute, founded in 1903 by William H. Holtzclaw, an agriculturalist whose mentor was Booker T. Washington.
Holtzclaw sought to educate African Americans in Mississippi’s “Black Belt” by replicating the Tuskegee educational experience.
The Utica Institute became Utica Junior College, which merged with Hinds Community College in 1982. Until 2014, the town hosted the Hinds County Agricultural High School, part of the Hinds Community College system.
Utica only has a population of around 600. The town didn’t think a large grocer would be willing to come, so they investigated some alternatives.
The town organizes
Enter Sipp Culture, a group founded in Utica to use arts and culture to help the town solve its food crisis. They partnered with the municipal government and started a farm, a community garden, and a farmer’s market.
That was only their first step. They found another partner, the Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, and launched a program to support rural artists. This action earned them a large grant from One Nation/One Project, an organization that leverages the arts to create healthier people and communities.
“Sipp Culture believes that gathering and sharing local stories is the best way to support safe and thriving communities for the future.”
How did the community come together and start this project?
First, they gathered the community and listened. As demonstrated by Operation Shoestring, listening to the community is vital for any effort towards improving SDOH. Sipp Culture needed to see what the community wanted to do. They made sure that representatives from the culture, agriculture, business, education, and local government sectors were on hand when they held community meetings.
Using those tools, they determined where people were shopping, and what drove their decision to do so. They discovered that people were driving up to an hour just to buy fresh meat and produce.
They then researched models for alternatives to big grocers. Many of the future members of the Utica Food Club had known of or done business with a cooperative grocery in Jackson. Others had used farmer’s markets and community gardens.
Then, they identified the items that people wanted to purchase in bulk. They focused on staple foods, which are easily transported and stored without refrigeration.
Next, they identified vendors who would sell them, and began the task of figuring out where these staple items – and harder-to-store things that would require refrigeration, could be housed. The storage question was helped by their partnership with the municipality, which knew what buildings were suitable for the project – and available.
After that, the group began to exchange information and ideas. They discussed strategies and techniques for storing and transporting food, preserving it and making bulk purchases. They coordinated those purchases, becoming a food-buying club. Food buying clubs are a way for individuals to purchase food at wholesale prices, and then split the purchases up, circumventing a traditional grocer.
While the buying club, farmer’s market, and community garden have all helped to address the food desert in Utica, there is much more to be done. For now, Sipp Culture and the Utica Food Club are researching more and seeking financial and educational support from the FDA, the USDA, and co-op support organizations. Their partnership with One Nation/One Project and the artists supported by Sipp Culture’s Rural Performance Production Lab have shown them the power of these relationships, and now they are seeking out local churches to recruit volunteers and further support.
In 2023, Sipp Culture hosted the international musical youth of OneBeat.
lessons for your community
The lessons learned from the Utica Food Club echo those of the ARK and Operation Shoestring: Teamwork and homework.
Listen to the community.
Identify partners.
Do the research.
Find a model you can emulate.
Every step was driven by community education and the equal exchange of information. Food deserts are a crisis in Mississippi, one that many UProot partners attempt to address.
If you know of someone out there who is working hard to make Mississippi a healthier place, let us know!
Operation Shoestring: Better Health through Listening
Nutrition, exercise, and mental health are critical when it comes to improving the health of your community.
These days, Operation Shoestring is primarily known for quality after-school and summer programs for children in the neighborhoods of central Jackson. True to their history, the organization continues listening to community families for ways to help the community.
A Community Space for Connection
In addition to programming for children, Operation Shoestring offers workshops for parents. Parent programs began as a natural outgrowth of after-school activities. Organizers listened to the concerns of the parents while bringing or picking up their children and began tailoring programs to meet them.
These parents were able to guide the content of the parental workshops. Among other topics, they mentioned challenges that are familiar to public health professionals. Good food is expensive. Jobs and life leave little time for exercise. Safe places to exercise are unavailable. People need places where they can speak openly about mental health.
“These parents are well aware of the challenges in their community,” said Alexandra Melnick, communications director at Operation Shoestring.
Parents wanted to learn ways to help handle these difficulties. They started a healthy eating workshop, which led to exercise classes, and even cooking classes where parents were offered squash, sweet potatoes, and other produce.
Qula Madkin, a registered dietitian and nutritionist teaching a healthy eating class, noted the parents’ desire to learn more. “There’s a barrier to information and how it is distributed,” Madkin said in 2023.
we all rise together
At a class on healthy eating, parents get more than recipes: they also get fresh produce, kitchen essentials, and on-site child care.
Just as important, they get to cook, exercise, or talk together.
“Our classes are more than just a dump of information; what they need is a supportive environment,” Melnick said.
A community amplifies individual choices. When parents have a healthy diet and habits, they teach them to children. When parents try new exercises in front of others, the rest of the class learns when someone identifies what works for them.
“It lets the parents rethink their relationship with health,” Melnick said.
After all, the motto at Operation Shoestring is “We all rise together.”
Community Education Tips
Recognize the value of listening to a community to learn what they need in their own words.
Consider how spaces and activities are related. As an example, Operation Shoestring provides child care so that parents are free to focus on learning activities.
Consider ways that fostering community connection benefits the community long-term. Learn about Social Determinants of Health, one of UProot’s priority focus areas.
If you want to support Operation Shoestring, you can. They rely 100% on the financial support of generous donors and partners. Check out their Twitter and Facebook pages, as well.
Have a success story of your own, or know of one? Contact us to help share the good news.
Solutions for Food Insecurity Will Take Many Partners: 2023 Mississippi Hunger Summit
The 2023 Mississippi Hunger Summit was an example of Mississippi public health organizations doing what they do best: coming together as partners to address our state’s critical issues.
In October 2023, the University of Mississippi CREW (Community First Research Center for Wellbeing & Creative Achievement) hosted the Mississippi Hunger Summit. Food access was a key component of the summit. As shown in presentations, food insecurity is an issue with effects that affect everything from mental health to education performance to obesity and health outcomes. With so many issues affected, welcoming input from a wide range of partners offers the best opportunity for innovative solutions.
One of the pillars of our work at UProot (you can read about it in our State Health Improvement Plan) is to tackle Food Insecurity. Food Insecurity is when people do not have enough quality food to ensure their health. This can mean insufficient food, or that the only available food does not provide the variety and nutrition required for good health.
Food Insecurity is linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, stroke, and dementia. It also has a direct link to obesity. The reason is simple: When good food is hard to come by, families have no choice but to eat poorly. You can measure the accessibility of fresh, wholesome food in an area, and in many places in Mississippi, a lack of this constitutes what is known as a “Food Desert.” The distribution of these areas makes Food Insecurity a classic example of a Social Determinant of Health (SDOH).
Watch a clip from the opening remarks here:
Food Insecurity and Mental Health
Since hunger touches on many aspects of health, there was much to discuss, including the role of hunger and food insecurity on mental health. There are many connections between nutrition and mental health. Some are more obvious, such as the role of blood sugar in alertness or how the brain uses B vitamins and omega acids. Others are less obvious. Scott Hambleton, MD, Medical Director of the Mississippi Health Plan, also discussed the connection between the gut and the brain, a new area of interest that may become a powerful way of understanding mental and physical health that links both to the conditions in a community.
Food Insecurity’s Effects on Children
Children are especially vulnerable to food insecurity. The interplay between mental health, physical health, and the environment is precisely the sort of scenario that the SDOH concept attempts to address.
From Dr. Hambleton’s presentation; “Nourishing the Mind: The Connection Between Nutrition and Mental Health”
Uproot Partners in Action
Several UProot partners attended. The Mississippi Food Network presented information about food pantry resources.
From MS Food Network Presentation
While many people want to help with food insecurity, it takes skill to provide food safely and effectively for many people. These requirements, why they are in place, and what they achieve, were the focus of one of MFN’s presentations.
The 430 agencies that are part of the Mississippi Food Network are a testament to the number of people helping with food insecurity in Mississippi. It’s a big problem, and one a large number of Mississippians are eager to end.
To learn more about how to partner with the Mississippi Food Network, go to their website.
The ARK in Jackson: Bringing More Than Just Fitness
Exercise is a crucial part of the fight against obesity in Mississippi. But for many, finding a place to exercise is difficult. Challenges finding places to exercise in one’s community is a clear example of a social determinant of health.
Creating a healthy space is one of many reasons why New Horizon Church in Jackson opened The Ark in October. The Ark is in the vein of YMCA: more than just a gym, it’s a place for empowering people through sports and fitness. The Ark also offers a broad spectrum of education about more topics than just health. To help their community get healthy, the Ark provides multiple basketball courts, a climbing wall, spaces for weight training, cardio equipment, and meeting rooms.
Training equipment at The Arc
As we discussed in early November, exercise is vital not just for preventing diabetes and obesity, but for managing them as well. It also has myriad benefits for other aspects of health, including balance, mobility, and mental health.
But the Ark is about more than just exercise. “Come here and dream again,” is what Dr. Adrianne L. Swinney, Executive Director, said of The Ark. “We want it to be inspiring. Visions do matter.”
Art by Derek Perkins in one of the public spaces at The Ark
Seven years ago, the Ark was a shuttered Sams warehouse that the local community had been trying to find a use for.
As part of that community, New Horizon Ministries was in a good position to help turn the old warehouse into something new and vibrant. Representative Ronnie Crudup, Jr., the Executive Director of New Horizon Ministries, worked with the ministry and the local community so that the ministry could purchase the warehouse, and transform it into the Ark.
The space and the staff currently focus on youth basketball, with three basketball courts and three basketball development specialists under the guidance of Coach Charles Lewis. The coaching team teaches children and keeps them active, instilling values and habits that can help them be healthier and happier for life. They also manage a community basketball league for youth and adults.
Basketball courts at The Ark
We asked Dr. Swinney what she would say to any community that wanted to achieve something similar in their neighborhood. “Start with a vision. Write it down, research it, identify those who want to help make it happen by investing in the vision, and find a location. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You just have to get started. We started with one basketball court.” Dr. Swinney said.
And now there are three, with plans for expansion. They aim to provide more space, more events, and new facilities for different sports that kids might not otherwise be exposed to.
We’re proud to spotlight The Ark as an example of how community organizations can create better health in our state. Be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates on their work!
Have a success story of your own? Send it to us! Contact us to get started.
3 Ways to Build a Healthier Mississippi
UProot was developed to spark new ideas and opportunities to improve our state’s health. Read on for ways to connect to the great work happening to improve our state’s health.
Read the State Health Improvement Plan
Developed using feedback from more than 19,000 residents, public health professionals, and community partners across the state, the State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) is a great place to start when looking to build a healthier state.
It breaks down the cause and prevalence of Mississippi’s most pressing health issues, and contains actionable next steps employers, residents, educators, health-care professionals, faith-based organizations, and public health professionals can use to put the plan into action.
Here’s an example for community residents:
Notice what chronic diseases (obesity, for example) are impacting your town or community.
Check the SHIP for tips on how to improve this health issue. In this example, you could help lower obesity rates by improving food access (volunteering at a food pantry, donating to organizations that provide food to those who are low-income or on disability, or starting a neighborhood food drive or community garden).
Spread the word. Get more people involved in improving this issue to help grow more solutions for a healthier Mississippi.
Keep in mind that simply sharing, supporting, and lifting up healthy behaviors for friends and family members can have a big positive impact on our state’s health as well! Check out our resource directory to learn more about chronic diseases in your area and connect to free health management classes to boost wellness.
Join an UProot Work Group
For organizations looking to make a difference, joining one of UProot’s work groups is a great first step. Work groups meet on a monthly basis to track progress and develop new strategies for improving our state’s health. Priorities are based on the SHIP and are represented in the following focus areas:
The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
Obesity – Youth Mentorship
Obesity – Tracking Nutrition
Obesity – Diabetes Prevention
Social Determinants of Health contribute to health disparities across the state, and can have a major impact on the prevalence of chronic diseases. By joining in this work, your organization can take action to improve the environmental conditions of Mississippians, including people of color, tribal members, and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. Click here for a breakdown of this priority.
There’s also work being done specifically to lower obesity rates that your organization can take part in. Since obesity is a root cause for most chronic illnesses, it is a very important issue to address at both local and state levels. Improving obesity rates alone could save Mississippi over $13 billion annually in unnecessary health care costs.
With three specific focus areas, we’re able to develop a more holistic approach to building better behaviors and lowering obesity rates. Click here to learn more about this priority and its focus areas.
See a workgroup that seems like the perfect fit for your organization? Click here to join!
Share the Wins
Whether you’re a community organization or community leader, resident or public health advocate, always share the wins! Send us the health projects or events happening in your area, and we’ll amplify them to help spread the word and inspire others to grow a healthier Mississippi. If you already have a story ready to share with us, click here to send it to us!
How the Good Samaritan Center is Growing New Possibilities for Mississippi
Our 2022 State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) identifies food insecurity as one of Mississippi’s most pressing issues and a primary cause for high obesity rates in the state. However, programs like the community gardens at The Good Samaritan Center help local residents live healthier lives. The garden, 2,000 square feet of urban greenery, serves as an example of how transformative community effort can be.
Known locally as “Good Sam,” The Good Samaritan Center has provided food assistance, clothing, and community support services to the Jackson-Metro area for over 40 years. Good Sam’s mission to create a “network of helping hands” is most evident in Midtown, a central neighborhood in the city of Jackson, where local residents and organizations work together to ensure care resources reach the people who need them most.
We spoke with Sarah Gayden Hammond, Director of Volunteers at Good Sam, and volunteers Mary Hauk and Jeannette Morgan about the gardening program and how it’s making an impact.
Pictured above (from left to right): Mary Hauk, Jeannette Morgan, and Sarah Gayden Hammond
What inspired the Good Samaritan Center to start this program?
Hammond: As I understand it, in 2014, Kathy Clem, the CEO of the Good Samaritan Center, wrote a grant and Whole Foods fulfilled it. The original intention behind the grant was to grow produce in our garden that would supplement our pantry. There would also be a moveable kitchen and cooking component, but that component didn’t get funded. There is still the possibility of hosting a cooking experience for clients and volunteers, though, if we find the right partnership.
Hauk: Like Sarah said, the original grant focus was not very doable in the space that we had available. So from there the garden evolved to be a space for teaching and urban greening. Whatever we harvest does go into our pantry and also goes out to families in Midtown, like our seniors at Golden Key.
Were any other partners involved in getting this program started?
Hammond: Whole Foods was very involved. And also one of our long-term partners in the garden is Matt Casteel, who operates his own small business, Wurmworks, which is also in Midtown. He builds worm boxes, makes organic produce, and donates vermicompost to our garden. Actually, the vegetables that were planted this season were planted with Casteel’s vermicompost. We also worked with Mississippi Cold Brew coffee and used coffee grinds that they had donated in the back bed. That was really wonderful, and they helped us plant herbs.
What groups volunteer at the garden?
Hammond: Whenever possible, we try to bring our regular volunteers into the garden. But outside of our volunteers, we have different groups come in and spend time in the garden. We’ve planted sunflowers with Reverend Annie Elliott’s class from St. Andrew’s. St. Richards brought their second graders, and it was great seeing them. We had a youth group from UMMC Madison stop by yesterday and help us fix a bed. They also helped us tie up our tomatoes after they’d been blown down after the storm. We also have volunteers, like the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, come every Friday. So, we have many different groups volunteer and help out at the garden.
Pictured above: Volunteer students from Hinds, JSU, Millsaps, Holmes and Tougaloo
How do kids react once they’ve successfully grown produce? Has a participant ever shared what they’ve learned from the process?
Hauk: We had a group last year, from one of the local churches. And they had a whole bunch of little kids, which is always fun. I took them around on a little tour of the garden and I’m explaining what’s growing and where things are. And then 30 or 40 minutes later, a couple other kids came outside and I heard the first kids saying, ‘let me take you on a tour of the garden’.
And those kids took them around the garden and explained here’s this and here’s that and here’s the strawberry. And about 20 minutes later, more kids came out, and the second group of kids took them on a tour of the garden. So they’re finding that they’re not necessarily seeing the work through their own arc of time, but they’re seeing it through someone else’s arc.
Hammond: We use social media to make those connections. So recently the sweet tomatoes that the Millsaps Chi Os planted have borne fruit. And then we had some yellow pear tomatoes that JSU students planted go into our pantry. I was able to name the students who planted those back in March and make a Facebook post about it. In that way, they’re able to see progress in the garden and see how their effort is making a difference.
Are there any standout moments?
Morgan: There was a young woman in one of the volunteer groups that wanted to be a cook, and she was planning to go to culinary school, but she had never actually grown her own herbs. She knew that as a potential chef, though, that she would need to have that knowledge.
So she was asking questions about growing herbs and was really enjoying planting and learning about soil composition and what all was needed, especially in a container garden. There was also another time, we came across kids who were actually from farms and knew about growing, but it was a different experience using a planter and navigating a smaller garden.
Pictured above: 6th graders from St. Andrews plant sunflowers in a newly created bed.
The State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) aims to reduce food insecurity by 10% in the next five years by increasing food access and eliminating food deserts across the state. How does this program help with that effort?
Hammond: We’ve got tomatoes and peppers and okra. We have an eggplant coming along. It’s a whole rainbow of local sustainable produce! And it’s enough to help supplement our pantries now and then, and also donate to our seniors on disability.
Hammond: I think it’s a wonderful thing, and it’s like a movement to have gardens as part of an organization’s work. There are a lot of community health centers who have jumped on board, you know, with the goal of helping address food needs and help the city overall.
How can other nonprofit organizations start projects like this one? Any advice on how they can get their community involved?
Hauk: This is a great opportunity for an afterschool program because kids really love it. They love being in the garden and they love being able to get dirty. I think they love that arc too, of planting and then seeing the plant sprout and then seeing it grow and then boom–there’s a sunflower or a squash or whatever. And starting the garden doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. We use recycled pots, storage bins, whatever we can reuse to grow most of our food.
Morgan: Our ingredients are just time, volunteers, knowledge, and the ability to get dirty. Also, just wanting to do it and understanding why we do it and why it’s so important to our community. I’d say you just have to have good core volunteers and a good coordinator to lead them.
Hammond: I’ll say the first thing that you need to do is visit a garden. We’re really fortunate to have good gardens here in Mississippi, since we have a rural heritage here. We have the Mississippi Natural Science Museum, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Ridgeland Wildflower Field. Of course, we also have our garden here at the Good Samaritan Center. But I really think when you visit a garden and you sit in that kind of space, what you want out of a garden will rise up inside of you. And then, just like that, an initiative forms and you will come in contact with people who have the knowledge and the expertise and the time to help you build the garden you’re supposed to have.
Pictured above: Volunteer missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints plant okra.
Why is this program so important to the Jackson metro area and Mississippi in general?
Hammond: Above all, I think it is a measure of community resilience. We have a lot of problems to solve in Mississippi, but we cannot solve those problems unless we have meaningful relationships with others.We solve everything through our social relationships, and I really think that when we spend time with others in a garden, we work out our own problems. We work out collective problems, we relationship-build, and we create the social network that needs to be in place for us to solve the problems that we need to solve in this state.
And that happens at the local level. You know, people try to solve problems at a really large level, but every community and every neighborhood has its own resources, its own challenges, and its own gifts, and people need to be brought together in a deep and meaningful way to make progress happen. I think a garden is part of that.
Morgan: I agree, and I think if everybody knows how to grow, just the simplest thing, it gets you started on a path of understanding the simple nature of everything. That it’s not magic, that everyone can have a garden or a beautiful front porch and enjoy it at the same time and be outside. Connect to nature, basically. And connect to the food that you eat. I hope that’s what people get from the garden.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell our audience?
Hauk: You don’t have to start with a grand garden. You can start with a bucket and a plant.
Responses edited for brevity and clarity. Views expressed in interviews published on this site are solely those of the interviewees.
Q&A with Dr. Kina White
Dr. Kina White, Director of the Office of Community Health Improvement (OCHI) at the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH)
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) was recently awarded Age-Friendly Public Health Systems recognition by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH). We spoke with Dr. Kina White, Director of the Office of Community Health Improvement (OCHI) at MSDH, to talk about this great achievement and learn more about efforts to make Mississippi a more age-friendly state. Read on to see what Dr. White had to share!
What is healthy aging?
If we use the World Health Organization’s definition, healthy aging is defined as the “process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age”. It enables people to be and do what they value throughout their everyday lives.
Something that’s very important to consider when we think about healthy aging is that we’re all aging. I think that there’s this misperception that healthy aging is only applicable to older adults and it is not. The goal is for all of us to healthily age in our communities.
How is MSDH working to make Mississippi more age-friendly?
Through collaboration with Trust for America’s Health, the Mississippi State Department of Health is working to advance an age-friendly ecosystem in Mississippi. The state department has adopted Trust for America’s Health’s 6 C’s framework for creating age-friendly public health systems and is using this framework to guide its work in this regard.
The “6 C’s Framework” outlined by TFAH centers on advancing health equity when developing age-friendly public health systems. Right now, we’re working to support a local university to pursue the age-friendly university designation and we’re also helping employers take on more age-friendly practices in the workplace. So with this ecosystem, Mississippi is on a path to becoming an age-friendly state where we can create a healthy community that respects all persons so that we can all healthily age.
What resources indicate that a community supports healthy aging?
There are a number of resources to indicate that a community supports healthy aging. Affordable and reliable transportation is often one the greatest community needs. If a community is able to provide transport services for older adults–whether through a community-based van service or non-emergent medical transportation–then that community is supporting healthy aging in this capacity. Proper infrastructure, like walkable sidewalks, is another example.
Another example would be adequate training for service staff–like grocery store workers or cashiers. If those staff are effectively trained to work with older adults, who may have a language barrier or communication issue, then those customers would not feel stigmatized or ashamed that their communication needs may be different from someone else’s.
It’s really about creating an environment where individuals can live and thrive and not have to relocate because the support services are not there. And it does require an elevated level of planning, communicating, and coordinating with individuals. There is also a policy element. There has to be a need for policy change in these communities to ensure that transportation or infrastructure-related policies are in place to create those community van services and safe sidewalks.
And so this work happens on multiple levels–a policy level, or it could be a systems level–or it could be an environmental level–but that work is ultimately necessary to building age-friendly communities within our state.
In your opinion, what does it mean to create a culture of health?
For me, a culture of health is one that is equitable and where all persons, all collective individuals and organizations are respective of differences and similarities. Without equity, that culture, in my opinion, is not well established or sustained.
What projects are you excited about?
We have a new initiative called “Health Aging Champions”. It’s a volunteer-based program where older adults can volunteer to support our effort to become more age friendly as a state.
Volunteers can help us learn what local communities need and how to best offer age-friendly services. This project also gives our older adults a voice at the table for a change, which is really exciting.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell our audience?
We are proud to do this work and support all of our Mississippians as we age! I think this will be yet another great opportunity for collaboration in our state for sure.
Responses edited for brevity and clarity. Views expressed in interviews published on this site are solely those of the interviewees.
Addressing Food Insecurity in the Nation’s ‘Hungriest State’
On April 4, our team, along with one of our Battling Obesity workgroups attended the Mississippi Food Network Conference to learn more about local efforts to eliminate one of our state’s most pressing issues: food insecurity.
At the county level, Mississippi has the highest rate of food insecurity in the nation and has been considered as the most food insecure state in the country by Feeding America for nearly a decade.
1 in 4 Mississippians deal with food insecurity, and it is a disparity that has been shown to put people at higher risk for obesity and chronic disease. And, although it may seem like a one-problem-one-solution issue, it actually requires a more holistic approach.
Food insecurity is caused by a number of factors, or social determinants of health, such as income, transportation access, and local food availability. It’s also caused by food deserts–which, unfortunately, are very common in Mississippi.
Food deserts are communities that have limited access to healthy, affordable foods. When identifying whether or not a community is a food desert, distance plays a key role. Residents must live between 1 and 10 miles from their nearest supermarket in order to have adequate access to food. But, in areas like the Mississippi Delta, where nearly 20% of the state’s population resides, residents have access to just one food market per 190.5 square miles. There is also store inventory to consider; as one participant of our community listening sessions noted, “most stores do not have enough variety of healthy food.”
When people aren’t able to access fresh, healthy food–either because of distance or lack of availability–they may turn to eating at fast food places or restaurants as an alternative. This is how food insecurity leads to poor nutrition and adverse health outcomes like obesity.
Our plan is to reduce food insecurity by 10% in the next five years by increasing food access and eliminating food deserts across the state. We’re proud to work with organizations like the Mississippi Food Network to strengthen our efforts and raise awareness around the importance of ending food insecurity.
Click here to learn more about the latest State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) and how you can help improve our state’s health. Then, show us how you’re bettering community health by sending us your success story! Visit https://uprootms.org/contact to get started.
