For this blog post, we’re organizing project examples by these categories: Activity-Friendly Communities, Access to Healthy Food, Healthy School Environments and Youth Engagement.Staff share their expertise, or technical assistance, within several sectors of community: municipalities, state agencies, coalitions, schools, faith-based organizations and other nonprofit organizations.
Below is an incompletelist of community-level projectsWholespirehas supported with mini-grants. The list features examples of PSE projects implemented by various communities across South Carolina. All focus areas marked with an asterisk (*) indicatea level of partnership and collaboration with local government and regulatory agenciesrequired to complete the projects.
Activity-Friendly Communities
Activity-friendly communities are vibrant spaceswhere people of all ages and abilities can easily and safely enjoy walking, bicycling, rolling and other forms of active transportationand recreation.Communities must be thoughtfully designed and include policies, systems, and environmental supports that allow daily active transportation and recreation.
Focus Area
Project/Tactic
Items Funded
Bicycle and Pedestrian Routes and Trails
Provide adequate signage to improve pedestrian safety
Safety signs, paint and other tools
Install way-finding signage
Signs, posts, hardware and installation costs
Create maps of community/ neighborhood walking and biking routes
Purchase outdoor exercise system equipment/stations
Parks, Playgrounds and Other Recreational Facilities
Provide bike racks at recreational facilities, schools, and businesses
Purchase and installation costs
Provide benches at parks, paved walking paths, playgrounds, ADA picnic tables, etc.
Purchase and installation costs
Improve park/recreational facilities
Recreational equipment such as basketball goals, soccer goals, playground equipment, balls, and other needs
Create inclusive play spaces for people with disabilities
Sensory panels, inclusive swings, and other inclusive play equipment; ramps, braille and sign language signs; accessible drinking water fountains/water bottle refill stations
Improve accessibility and ADA compliance
Rubber mats for playgrounds, ADA signs, ramps, and other needs
Create or upgrade a community basketball court
Land grading, concrete, basketball goals, paint, stencils, supplies to repair cracks on surface
Create a disc golf course
Disc golf backets, disc golf frisbees, equipment needed for installation
Paint and supplies for curbs, crosswalks and other safety areas
Effective Student Pick-up and Drop-off Design
Signs to define areas in drop-off and pick-up zones and explain their proper use
Enhanced Visibility Crosswalks/ re-painting of crosswalks leading to the school
Stencils, paint, supplies
Crossing Guard Supplies/Safety Equipment
Reflective vests, stop/go handheld signs, portable stop/go/slow signs and other safety equipment
Improve school traffic safety during drop off and pick up
Supplies for road surface markings, curb markings, delineators, colored pavements, and traffic channelizing devices, lights for portico
Access to Drinking Water
Ensure drinking water is available in public spaces
Water bottle refill stations, accessible drinking water fountains, water fountains featuring a dog bowl
Access to Healthy Food
Access to healthy food refers to the availability, affordability, and consistency of foods and beverages that promote well-being and prevent chronic disease. Areas that lack access to healthy foods are known as food deserts. Ensuring access to healthy food is an important element of an equitable food system, one in which those most vulnerable and those living in low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and rural and tribal communities can fully participate, prosper, and benefit.
Focus Area
Project/Tactic
Items Funded
Farmer’s Markets
Establish new farmers’ markets
Sandwich boards, employee/farmer aprons, SNAP/WIC processing equipment and Wi-Fi hot spots, signage, SNAP/WIC promotional signs
Increase access for people with disabilities
Paint and signs for parking, materials and supplies for curb ramps
Mobile markets
Accept SNAP, WIC, Senior SNAP and Healthy Bucks
SNAP/WIC processing equipment and Wi-Fi hotspots, SNAP/WIC promotional signs
Community Gardens
Create or expand a network of community gardens
Materials to build gardening beds: lumber, cement blocks, planting soil, mulch; Water meter and backflow gauge, signage, Gardening tools (rakes, hoes, etc.), tiller
Other food access projects
Provide free gleaned produce stations at a local, public facility
Shelves, baskets, bins and other food storage supplies, chalkboard signs
Healthy School Environments
Promoting healthy eating and active living in the school environment is crucial for the overall well-being of students and staff. When students have nutritious meals and are physically active, their performance and attention span reflect those elements of healthy school environments. A healthy school environment applies to the indoor and outdoor environments of the school and the surrounding environments.
Paint and supplies for curbs, crosswalks and other safety areas
Effective Student Pick-up and Drop-off Design
Signs to define areas in drop-off and pick-up zones and explain their proper use
Enhanced Visibility Crosswalks/ re-painting of crosswalks leading to the school
Stencils, paint, supplies
Crossing Guard Supplies/Safety Equipment
Reflective vests, stop/go handheld signs, portable stop/go/slow signs and other safety equipment
Improve school traffic safety during drop off and pick up
Supplies for road surface markings, curb markings, delineators, colored pavements, and traffic channelizing devices, lights for portico
Access to Drinking Water
Retrofit and install safe water sources
Water refill stations, water fountains, accessible water fountains
Transform the physical environment to increase students’ PA and other pro-social learning and play behaviors
Improve outdoor playground equipment
Purchase PA equipment, such as slides, swings, ladders, and various climbing structures for students to interact with; upgrade basketball goals
Increase the variety of outdoor play options
Add painted play spaces or markings to the playground
Create active pathways in hallways and walkways
Stencils, paint and other materials
Create inclusive spaces for people with disabilities
Purchase grip volleyballs, ringing volleyballs and other specialty balls and play equipment for kids with disabilities, smooth surfaces likes rubber mats
Create an Outdoor Classroom
Picnic tables, benches, and other materials
Youth Engagement (The HYPE Project®)
Engaging youth in community health improvement can be a driving force for change. Through the Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project®, youth develop critical thinking skills, build relationships with community stakeholders and have fun learning practical ways to create policy, systems and environmental (PSE) changes. Youth can implement any of the projects mentioned above; however, below are examples of HYPE civic action projects Wholespire has funded.
Focus Area
Project/Tactic
Items Funded
School-based PSE Projects
Mobile Breakfast Carts
Food cart, wrapping for cart
Improve pedestrian and bicycling safety of students
Supplies for conducting a walkability assessment
Community-based PSE Projects
Update a local park
Benches, trash receptables, benches, paint and supplies, park signs
Upgrade a community basketball court
Basketball goals, paint, stencils, supplies to repair cracks on surface
Playground improvements
Volleyball net, disability swings, trash receptables, benches, paint and supplies, park signs
Have you ever left a meeting thinking, ‘I have no idea what they said’? Maybe you started working on your grant final report and don’t understand what’s being asked. That’s probably because of jargon—language used by people within a particular profession, culture, or social group.
When we work in complex fields, we revert to jargon because that’s what we know. We’ve trained our brains to use words associated with our work. At Wholespire, we understand that the people we are in contact with come from different backgrounds. We are continuously attempting to change the language we use. We want to explain some of them because, in addition to jargon, some of our words mean something different in other environments.
1. Technical Assistance
When the average person hears this word, they might think computer help, but that’s far from what we mean. Technical assistance (TA) is a non-financial form of help like connecting coalitions to funding sources, sharing information, providing training, consulting on projects and leadership coaching. Read more about technical assistance on our blog.
2. Community
We use this word in its traditional sense. A community is a group of people with a shared geographic location. It also means a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. When Wholespire talks about community, we often mean the town, city or county as a whole, but there are times when we are addressing other types of communities, like:
Schools,
Religious centers,
People with disabilities,
Early child care centers, and
Worksites.
3. Community Engagement, Youth Engagement
Community and youth engagement means involving community members and youth in the decision-making, planning, and evaluation of projects. It’s getting their input, perspectives and active participation to make sure that projects and policies are relevant, effective, and have long-term solutions. It often leads to an increased sense of community, empowerment, and inclusion.
4. Sustainable, Sustainability
When we provide technical assistance or open a grant application, we often ask if the project or idea is sustainable. We ask this because we want to invest in policy, systems and environmental change projects that are continual over a long time. It’s important to think about how the completed project will be maintained and who will be responsible for keeping it in safe, working order. Here are three examples of sustainability:
For a community garden, sustainability means creating a plan for who will pull weeds, harvest vegetables and prepare the beds for the next season.
For a park, sustainability could be what organization is responsible for keeping the grass mowed and the equipment safe to use.
For a trail, sustainability includes a plan for keeping the trail cleared of brush, fallen limbs and litter.
5. Leverage, Leveraging
Here’s another jargony word that can leave you guessing: leverage. In finance, it means something completely different. At Wholespire, leverage means using something you already have to achieve something new or better. On our grant final report, we ask, “How did you leverage this grant?” We want to know how you were able to make the project happen after you received funds from Wholespire.
We also ask this question to find out if the mini-grant had an impact that was above and beyond the initial project. Did a recipient of a grant, for instance, use donations to expand from one garden to three? Alternatively, it’s possible that the city noticed a park improvement and offered to update another park. There are many ways you can leverage your project:
In-kind donations are contributions of goods or services, other than money. This can be volunteers, employers lending employees on the clock, heavy equipment use, or dirt. Yes, dirt!
Funding from other sources is a great way to supplement your budget. Apply for other grants, conduct a fundraiser, ask for donations or host a silent auction.
Leverage your existing partnerships. Leaning on partners is a great way to share information, learn from each other and accomplish goals together. Plus, partnerships can lead to additional funding opportunities.
Social media marketing can help raise awareness about your project, get the community involved, and collect donations. Social media also contributes to community or youth engagement because you’re reaching parts of the population that you may not have touched in newsletters and other forms of communication.
6. Implement, Implementation
Implementation is more than just completing the physical work of making your project happen. It’s the process of turning your project plan into a reality by following the action plan and making sure it’s successfully completed. Key components of implementation include:
Making sure the funding, personnel, equipment and materials are available,
Coordinating and organizing volunteers,
Monitoring and tracking progress,
Making adjustments to keep the project on schedule,
Communicating progress and challenges with the funder and partners,
Reviewing the process to identify lessons learned for future projects , and
Promoting the completed project to the community.
Leveraging the community for 20 tons of dirt
In 2021, Wholespire funded GoForth Recovery in Spartanburg for a basketball court project. Initially, the plan called for clearing enough land for the basketball court, but the vision soon grew to clear an entire lot to make room for future additions. The mini-grant only funded about half of the total project cost, so the executive director needed to secure full funding. News of the project reached various community members, businesses, partners, and associates. As the challenge was being faced, the old courthouse in Spartanburg was being demolished. Upon hearing about the need, officials donated the extra dirt. Project organizers estimated that 30 truckloads were delivered at no cost to them.
The Wholespire Partner Spotlight Series shines a light on the remarkable collaborations and impactful initiatives of our valued partners. In this series, we highlight the incredible work being done by organizations and individuals who share our vision and commitment to ensure an equitable South Carolina, where everyone has access to healthy choices.
We recently caught up with Erika Kirby, executive director of the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation. The Foundation has been a long-standing partner of Wholespire. Their partnership has enabled hundreds of communities to increase opportunities for healthy food choices and physical activity across the state.
What is the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation?
The BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation (Foundation), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, was established in early 2000 with a vision to bridge health and health care in South Carolina. Its mission and commitment remain steadfast to identifying and supporting solutions to address gaps in care and serving as a change agent to support innovation and value-added public-private partnerships.
The Foundation is South Carolina’s only statewide state-based philanthropic organization focused exclusively on improving health. Since its first grant was awarded in 2003, the Foundation has supported projects and efforts in all 46 counties.
The Foundation supports organizations and communities across South Carolina. Aside from grant support, how does the Foundation achieve its mission?
The Foundation is committed to creating value beyond traditional grantmaking. As a statewide health funder, the Foundation uses both its financial and non-financial assets to maximize its impact and create value for those we serve. Examples of how the Foundation’s service to South Carolina extends beyond traditional grantmaking and financial support:
We use our reputation to convene partners on key health issues.
We work with partners to minimize duplication and aim to increase coordination of organizations working to improve health, as well as to promote learning across communities and organizations.
Given our statewide footprint, we interact with a wide array of organizations and are aware of many health-related efforts occurring across South Carolina. With this information, we frequently make connections across stakeholders and across communities.
An example would be convening support for the South Carolina Social Determinants of Health Roadmap and engagement with the health-focused partners and members of the Alliance for Healthier South Carolina. While not directly health-focused, the Foundation is also a member and involved in SC’s state association of nonprofit organizations and the state grantmakers network to stay abreast of issues and opportunities for South Carolina.
One of your approaches is “Working Downstream and Upstream.” How does this approach impact health outcomes in SC?
The Foundation recognizes that South Carolina faces many complex health issues and has a unique position, given our statewide reach, to influence and lead the direction of initiatives to make an impact. Accordingly, the Foundation sees its role beyond a grantmaker to a change maker. Our values below convey our commitment to a diverse array of projects and approaches.
We support a continuum of approaches ranging from providing direct care for the economically vulnerable to advancing practice and policy, systems and environmental changes.
We prioritize efforts that will improve the health of future generations of South Carolinians.
We empower organizations to increase effectiveness towards improved health outcomes.
We support efforts that represent community and statewide priorities that are locally determined, culturally relevant and data-informed solutions.
We equip our partners to connect learning to action and use data for continuous improvement.
We are a catalytic partner, supporting organizations and programs as they gain sustainability by leveraging funds and we value innovative projects that can expand to multiple geographic areas in South Carolina.
The Foundation has the ability as a corporate philanthropic statewide health foundation to help discover, introduce, and advance new, different, or more effective ways to improve health and well-being and to improve the quality of health delivered to improve individual health outcomes.
As a statewide organization, we balance scaling solutions statewide to supporting strategies that can most effectively address local health needs. The Foundation seeks to listen to community needs, analyze, and evaluate data, and understand local community assets and challenges. We are also respected for our approach to develop relationships that foster honest dialogue. We listen, suggest, and in many instances, co-create mutually beneficial solutions.
This commitment to serving South Carolina is communicated to key stakeholders across the state and positions the Foundation as both a source of information, accelerating action, and working to find innovative solutions to best serve South Carolina.
What are the priorities of the Foundation for the next 3-5 years?
Most recently, we have intentionally woven together and overlayed our funding pillars of access to care, workforce, improving the quality of services, and investing in the health and well-being of South Carolina children and families with an additional emphasis in three health priorities of diabetes, oral health, and mental health.
The Foundation amplifies different areas of focus annually, mostly within these noted priorities. However, we are always keeping an eye out for innovative approaches not yet tried so we balance defined priorities to needs and opportunities as we hear from partners.
Over the years, the Foundation has supported Wholespire and its work. What do you think has made Wholespire a good partner?
The Foundation views its grantees as partners, leveraging their capacity to improve health across South Carolina. We invest in strong relationships with key organizations and design initiatives that build a network of trusted partners with which we can listen, learn, ask, and receive candid ‘on the ground’ check-ins – all towards advancing action and impact.
Would you like to share any other important details about the Foundation?
We recently held our inaugural regional grantee appreciation events. These events were created to recognize the contributions of each and the potential of all. Health is local and we wanted to give grantees the chance to strengthen relationships with each other. We see the possibility and power that the cross-pollination of ideas between grantees will lead to even more positive change in the communities they serve.
Take a look at the Foundation’s website for impact stories and highlights as well as the Foundation’s new team members.
Jamaius White recently joined the Wholespire staff to oversee The HYPE Project. He will play a major role in the success of the youth engagement program. Let’s get to know Jamaius.
Q: What’s your favorite healthy snack? A: I could eat watermelon every single day!!!
Q: What’s your favorite way to stay active? A: Lift Heavy Weights!!!
Q: Can you start by telling us a little bit about your educational background and interests? A: My education is a product of my interest in music and physical activity. In high school, I studied music under the guidance of Mr. Willie E. Lyles at WJ Keenan High School in Columbia. You can find many of his lessons in my actions to this very day. One of the things he would tell us that has stuck with me is ‘Character is who you are when no one is watching.’ Being a percussionist for his music program yielded a great benefit to my development as a health educator. He made sure his students understood the history behind the music being played. That helped us make a connection to the music. That holds true in my work and personal life. We must understand the history behind the things we do in order to have an impact. My tenure in the Health Education Department at SC State University was a humbling, yet, encouraging experience. My vision for physical education matured immensely.
Q: What attracted you to the position? A: I was attracted to the position because it gives me the opportunity to work in the health education field but through a different lens. Prior to Wholespire, I worked more from a boots-on-the-ground perspective and now I’m working at an administrative level. One of my true passions is to be an influencer of youth. I believe I can improve the relationship between youth and healthier decision making. The Program Manager position for The HYPE Project allows me to do that. Wholespire is the vehicle that will drive me towards that ultimate goal of getting South Carolina fit.
Q: How would you summarize what you have done so far? A: Right now, I’m in the process of fine-tuning the curriculum and all of the tools and processes related to implementing The HYPE Project. I’m getting ready for the next advisors’ training and onboarding the next HYPE teams. Also, I’m preparing to be a presenter at the SCAPHERD conference in November. So, I guess you can say that I’m getting my feet wet.
Q: What are you looking forward to most with your job? A: I look forward to developing a system that is sustainable for growth for every organization that creates a HYPE team in their community. My goal is to literally increase advocacy, civic engagement, physical activity and a sense of belonging for youth. I’m looking forward to getting out in our communities and finding out how I can help make that happen through The HYPE Project.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working here? A: Outside of the immeasurable support from staff, I enjoy the immediate inclusion of my thoughts and ideas. The hybrid workspace is ideal for me too. I’m able to create a work schedule that allows me to go to the gym. I don’t have to worry about missing those critical moments in my kids’ lives. I can work virtually from anywhere.
Q: How do you live out the Wholespire mission? A: I am all about sustainability in every sector of my life. Coming from a health coach background, I preach creating habits that are sustainable for healthy lifestyles. I own a personal training business and I know the importance of making healthy changes that will last a lifetime. I always tell my clients to choose habits that they can do from now until the end of time.
Q: What’s one thing people don’t know about you that they would be surprised to find out? A: I did not participate in organized sports in college. People look at me and ask if I play football all the time, lol. I always laugh and reply “My brother did, I played drums.” I played drums for the Marching 101 Band at SC State University.
Wholespire asked for your help, and you delivered! Now that the legislative session is over, we have reason to celebrate wins addressing healthy eating and active living for all South Carolinians. From the state budget, signed by Governor McMaster, to legislative wins addressing free school meals, Wholespire and all of you worked overtime to make sure our decision-makers heard from all of us. You can further support our efforts at the State House by making a donation to our cause.
“We anticipated universal school meals and the USDA community eligibility program (CEP) would be a hot topic this session,” said Executive Director Meg Stanley. “We also knew we’d partner with the SC Department of Social Services to support their budget requests for the extension of the Healthy Bucks program and a SNAP system overhaul.”
Wholespire aims to increase access to nutritious foods. Knowing the USDA ended the emergency universal free school meals program with the 2022-23 school year, Senator Katrina Shealy, our legislative champion of the year, focused her efforts on the universal free school meals bill and Proviso 1.68, which ended school lunch shaming and closed the gap in providing free school meals.
“We understood that before COVID-19, many parents struggled to pay for their child’s school meals,” said Stanley. “Because the USDA enacted the emergency free school meals program, parents didn’t have to worry about school meal debt, and students weren’t ostracized and food shamed for their parents’ inability to pay. That and our mission alone are why we support Senator Shealy’s bill.”
Senator Shealy pre-filed S.148, calling for all public school children to receive two meals daily while at school. Wholespire staff jumped on the opportunity to advocate for a bill addressing an issue many other states were also considering. Some advocacy efforts included testifying at the Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children, talking to the media, urging grassroots advocates to speak to their SC Senator, implementing a social media campaign, and hosting a press conference.
“While S.148 did not pass, the state budget included a proviso that bans meal shaming at schools and closes the gap to provide two meals a day for public school children starting in the 2023-24 school year,” said Stanley. “We still have one year left in this two-year session, and with the momentum we’ve helped build, we are hopeful the bill will pass next year.”
Another big push for Wholespire and its grassroots advocates was the Healthy Bucks Proviso. The SC Department of Social Services (DSS) requested a budget appropriation of $5 million to extend the Healthy Bucks program and $8.7 million to update the outdated computer system used to process SNAP applications, purchases and reimbursements. The two budget requests would help sustain and improve two programs that address the food insecurity of low-income families and senior citizens and would also impact local farmers who sell fresh produce at farmers markets that accept SNAP and participate in the Healthy Bucks program.
Healthy Bucks is an incentive of the SNAP program designed to help low-income families and senior citizens get more affordable and nutritious food at the farmers market. When a family spends $5 on fruit and vegetables, they get $15 in tokens for their next visit.
“Many families rely on their local farmers markets for fresh produce because they may live in a food desert without a grocery store or can’t afford gas to make the 30-mile roundtrip. That’s a reality for one too many families and senior citizens,” said Stanley. “Those are scenarios that lead to poor health choices, poor health outcomes and poor quality of life.”
Wholespire has supported the Healthy Bucks program since its pilot in 2014 by the USC Arnold School of Public Health. During this legislative session, efforts to support Healthy Bucks and SNAP, in addition to grassroots advocates contacting their state legislators, led to the legislature including both DSS requests in the state budget.
“We are grateful for the leadership of Senator Katrina Shealy, DSS and the Budget Conferees for addressing healthy food access in South Carolina,” said Stanley, “not to mention all of our grassroots advocates for supporting these legislative efforts.”
With Governor McMaster’s approval of the budget, Wholespire will continue strategizing and preparing for the 2024 legislative session and keep the momentum building for S.148 and other priorities as they unfold.
