After a nationwide search that drew 42 applications from 26 states, Spartanburg, S.C., has been selected as one of five communities to participate in the five-year Way to Wellville challenge.
The announcement was made today by the challenge sponsor, HICCup (Health Initiative Coordinating Council, www.hiccup.co), a nonprofit founded by angel investor Esther Dyson to encourage new models and markets for the production of health.
Led by the Mary Black Foundation, Spartanburg will work with HICCup and a network of partners over the next five years to produce visible improvements in five measures of health and economic vitality. The community will receive support in the areas of data and measurement, evidence-based health solutions, and innovative financing strategies. Rigorous evaluation will measure the impact of specific health initiatives, reinforced by a coordinated, community-wide approach, while generating new insights and market opportunities for producing health.
“We are delighted to be named one of the five communities,” said Kathy Dunleavy, CEO of Mary Black Foundation. “It truly was a group effort and clearly the Wellville team could see that this community is collaborative and will work hard to get the job done. While we have a lot of work ahead, this is also important recognition of the collaborative energy and important progress that our community already has made in the broad area of community health. Our inclusion as one of the Wellville Five will significantly escalate our capacity for deeper and sustainable progress.”
HICCup’s founder, CEO and four-person advisory board selected the Wellville Five from a highly competitive field, beginning with 42 community applications in May and culminating in site visits to 10 finalist communities in July and August. The group of five was selected based both on each community’s readiness for success and on the group’s diversity in geography, demographics, and lead organization. (See related blog post: http://hiccup.co/news/blog/hiccups-summer-vacation-the-way-to-wellville-grand-tour/)
“We were looking for five extraordinary communities – and we found many more than that,” said Esther Dyson, HICCup founder. “This is encouraging because the idea is not just to make a measurable difference in five places, but to demonstrate how a comprehensive approach to health can work and be replicated in many other communities around the country.”
“Over the next five years, Spartanburg and four other communities will lean in, with support from diverse stakeholders, citizens, partners and investors, as well as shared learning, to demonstrate the impact of multiple reinforcing health initiatives,” added Dyson. “We’ll be measuring everything to see what makes the greatest impact: from healthier school lunches and better housing, to early childhood education and economic development, to active social networks and workplace wellness.”