Blog – Page 3 – Wholespire

Making a Difference by Getting Involved in Community Initiatives

Jun 15, 2022 | Blog

It’s safe to say that most of us would like to see some sort of change in our communities and the world at large, but maybe most of us don’t know how to make that change happen.

While community betterment work may seem daunting, who will do it if you and your neighbors don’t? Plus, making a change where you live is one of the most fulﬁlling things any person can do.

There is a famous quote about change. Margaret Mead reminds us to “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

If you’re looking to make a difference and create change in your community, read on for some inspiring ideas.

The Best Ways to Give Back

There are many ways for you to give back to your community and help to improve it, and all of them involve one or more of the following three things: Time, effort, and generosity.

Whichever you feel you have or can give the most of, start there. For example, if you’re able to, donate money or resources to a local charitable cause. If you have extra time on your hands, get involved in grassroots advocacy or volunteer your time to help inﬂuence policy and create systemic change. Below are some more ideas for getting active in your community.

Youth Engagement Programs

Perhaps the best way to create positive change in your community is by reaching out to its youngest members and offering your knowledge, skills, and experience. If you can inﬂuence the youth of your community, you can inﬂuence the future of your community.

Community Health Initiatives

Nutrition and physical health have a direct impact on mental and emotional health. The consequences affect all the individuals in your community as well as your community as a whole. Seek better community funding for health initiatives, engage in food insecurity advocacy, or advocate for better community training. These are just three examples of how you can address systemic issues in your community and help make a difference.

Community Celebrations

Few things bring people closer together than tradition and celebration. If you can help organize a celebratory event for your community, you may open the door for more serious work to get done.

No one way of giving back to your community is necessarily greater or more effective than another. What’s important is that whatever you choose to do speaks to you.

The Ripple Effect of Trying to Make a Difference

When you take the time to engage with your community and make a difference, you inspire other people to do the same. Those people will then aim to “pay it forward” and make a difference themselves, and so on and so forth.

You may only be one person with limited time and resources, but the ripple effect of the good you do will reach far beyond yourself. Start that ripple effect today and get involved in community initiatives.

If you’re ready to get involved, contact us today and we can connect you with a community leader!

Why do we use the mini-grant model?

Mar 17, 2022 | Community Action Blog

Depending on how long you’ve been keeping up with Wholespire, you may be aware that we award mini-grants to community coalitions and organizations periodically. Our application process is competitive, meaning we weigh various health outcomes, population, and demographic data to help determine the most need. However, what you may not know is why we offer mini-grants, rather than large chunks of money. In this post, we’ll explain the history of our mini-grants and the reason we use this model.

What is the Mini-Grant Model?

Mini-grants are grant awards that are relatively small amounts of money and typically have short implementation periods.

Since 2018, Wholespire has been offering mini-grants of up to $5,000 to community coalitions, schools, local government, faith-based groups, and other non-profit organizations. These mini-grants can be used to implement a policy, systems, or environmental change that addresses healthy eating and/or active living. To date, 45 mini-grants have been awarded for projects like:

Add signage to an existing walking loop,
Add fitness stations to parks,
Create community gardens,
Include bilingual signage at farmers’ markets, and
Start new HYPE teams to lead civic action projects similar to the ones just listed.

Why Wholespire Adopted the Mini-Grant Model

Before 2018, Wholespire awarded large grants with a longer implementation period to help a small number of communities work on multiple improvement projects. Our hope was there would be a greater health impact. But that didn’t happen with all of the communities we funded.

Some communities experienced challenges, while others didn’t. Receiving a large amount of money can be overwhelming. It isn’t always easy to choose how to spend the money and what areas to tackle first. Sometimes it’s difficult to reach a consensus, while other times, you get so bogged down in a couple of strategies that the other strategies and the money get lost.

After evaluating these instances, Wholespire noticed that even when coalitions have large amounts of grant funding, they tend to spend their money in smaller increments like $5-$10,000 rather than spending large amounts of money at one time. We concluded that change needed to happen. We needed to look internally and adopt a different approach to grantmaking. So, we began using the mini-grant model to help grantees manage their awards better.

Successes Related to the Mini-Grant Model

We found that the smaller mini-grant investments led to a domino effect of momentum in communities. Oftentimes, the mini-grants led to investments by community partners as well as in-kind donations. Adopting this model meant we would be able to give more coalitions and organizations the opportunity to apply for these small grants.

In addition to being able to reach more coalitions, it gives community coalitions and organizations a chance to implement a project without the burden of managing large amounts of funding or committing to a long period of time. Coalitions can organize and work on community action plans without the time constraints of a grant and then apply for a mini-grant when they are ready to carry out their plan of action.

why the mini-grant model works

Our experiences have shown that many community coalitions and organizations are looking for a few hundred dollars to complete a project that fits our mission, while others need seed money to get a project moving. Wholespire provides funding opportunities, when available, for not only these reasons but ultimately to reduce health disparities, improve health equity, and increase access to healthy choices.

Are you interested in learning more about our funding opportunities? Visit the Community Action page on our website or contact us.

What is Technical Assistance?

Mar 17, 2022 | Advocacy Blog, Community Action Blog

As pioneers of policy, systems, and environmental change in South Carolina, Wholespire has provided technical assistance to hundreds of community coalitions and partners over the past 15 years. It’s a service we provide to help build the capacity of and sustain community coalitions, strengthen community-based projects, and improve the likelihood of better health outcomes.

Oftentimes, technical assistance is provided to partner organizations and addresses other areas of our work, like advocacy, youth engagement, and marketing. In this post, we’ll define technical assistance, show some examples, and tell you how you can take advantage of our technical assistance services.

What is technical assistance?

Technical assistance, also known as TA and commonly referred to as consulting, is the process of providing specific support to a community coalition or organization with a development need or problem. It is an effective method for building the capacity of any community coalition or organization.

Technical assistance can be provided in a variety of ways. It can be one-on-one consultation or small group facilitation. It can be provided in person or by phone, email, or other online methods. In addition to being referred to as consulting, TA is also known as coaching or mentoring.

At Wholespire, TA applies to our areas of expertise – policy, systems, and environmental strategies, advocacy, coalition development and sustainability, The HYPE Project®, and marketing and communications. The range of subtopics is almost endless. The only area our TA does not cover is IT support.

Why is it important?

Technical assistance is important to any community coalition or organization, no matter the stage of development and operations. When you don’t have expertise in a specific area in your coalition or organization, leaning on consultants is often used to learn more about the issue, the needs of the community or group, develop action plans, the actual implementation of those plans, and any steps needed after to sustain the effort.

Ten years ago, when Wholespire was responsible for creating a youth advocacy strategy, The HYPE Project®, we leaned on experts at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. We also sought information from other youth-serving organizations and youth advocacy programs. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.

Technical assistance can lend to the longevity of your coalition or organization. It’s called capacity building – the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes, and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt and thrive in a fast-changing world (United Nations).

What does it cost?

At Wholespire, we provide free and fee-based technical assistance services. Free technical assistance is provided to Wholespire chapters and grantees. TA can range from organizational structure and partnership development to advocacy/policy development and project implementation. Another example of free TA is when a mini-grant applicant needs guidance on the application or requests, input on their project idea, or needs help getting over unforeseen hurdles during their project. TA also includes connecting our grantees with other existing local community health initiatives that can complement their project, open up doors for future collaboration, lead to other funding opportunities, and, ultimately, make communities healthier and more equitable.

Fee-based TA is a contracted service provided to partners and other organizations that request assistance. This service addresses similar areas as our free service; however, they’re typically more specific. An example is partnering with Healthy People Healthy Carolinas to help their grantees with achieving their goals. Another example is providing an advocacy training series, resources, and tools to the SC Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance to help them understand and begin advocacy work.

Remember, technical assistance plays a key role in developing and sustaining community coalitions and organizations into the future. It’s a way to use expert help to assess current capacity, build on strengths, and address underlying needs. If your community coalition or organization is interested in learning more about our technical assistance services, contact us at info@wholespire.org.

What Is HEAL?

Mar 17, 2022 | Advocacy Blog, Blog, Community Action Blog

Group of friends on a walk & balancing on a tree trunk in the forest.

You may have heard of HEAL before. Hey, you may even know that it stands for healthy eating and active living (if so, kudos to you)! But what you may not know is that the mission of HEAL is a lot bigger than to promote healthy personal choices.

There are so many life factors that can lead to poor nutrition and low levels of physical activity in certain communities, particularly in those where income levels are low. These factors are important to learn about as they extend far beyond personal decision-making.

To gain a better understanding of the obstacles to healthy eating and active living as well as what the ultimate goals of HEAL really are, keep reading!

The Dangers of a Poor Diet and Idle Lifestyle

To understand what HEAL aims to achieve, you must know what it’s trying to combat, which is anything associated with or resulting from a poor diet and idle lifestyle choices, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, and a variety of other serious health complications.

HEAL recognizes the severity of these issues and attempts to reduce their impact on communities of all socioeconomic conditions by inﬂuencing relevant policies and addressing underlying causes. We hope our efforts can remove barriers to accessible exercise and provide greater access to healthy eating and active living options for all.

Healthy Eating

Did your parents ever ask you, “Honey, have you eaten your broccoli?” Most people would say yes. The ﬁrst half of the acronym HEAL is something many of us learned about when we were very young. However, it takes more than some parental coaxing to get entire communities to eat healthy, and that’s because the root of the issue goes far beyond a distaste for veggies.

Many communities don’t have access to healthy food options. Or else, if they do, these options are far too expensive to buy. The lack of nutritious food in underserved communities does not just affect dinner tables but workplaces, schools, places of worship, and other eating locations, too.

One of the main goals of HEAL’s various community health initiatives is to address the underlying causes of food access issues. We help educate communities about nutrition and the dangers of a poor diet and ultimately provide them with greater access to affordable, fresh, and healthy food.

Active Living

Active living is a term intended to describe a daily living routine inclusive of physical activity whenever possible. It’s not just about getting in a regular workout, it’s about opting to walk or bike somewhere rather than drive, for example. In order to promote active living, HEAL coalitions seek to increase safe access to physical activities in communities that lack proper facilities, such as sidewalks and crosswalks, and equipment. Our goal is also to inﬂuence policy in order to create more community space where physical activity is possible.

In sum, we want to knock down barriers to healthy eating and active living and HEAL communities that suffer from poor nutrition and physical inactivity due to circumstances beyond their control.

Want more information on HEAL or have questions about how to help your community? Email us at info@wholespire.org.

Part 1: DEI Insights

Dec 10, 2021 | Blog

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are among Wholespire’s core values, which is why integrating all three of them into the fabric of our organization is part of our current three-year strategic plan. Between 2021 and 2023, we hope to incorporate DEI (with a particular focus on racial equity) into all of our organizational practices in a measurable way. We aim to promote these practices among all of our local chapters.

In order to achieve these goals, we’re going to be training and educating ourselves on DEI, assessing our organizational DEI landscape for areas in need of improvement, and implementing new practices, standards, and policies in order to create an institutional structure that is predicated on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Why Is DEI Work Important?

Working to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into not only our organization but all facets of society is of the utmost importance. Demands for DEI approaches seem to be growing louder by the day. Meaningful attempts to bring DEI to businesses, educational institutions, and other organizations have been on the rise for years now. However, with widespread protests on racial discrimination and police brutality in the summer of 2020, the globe as a whole seems focused on how we can make conditions more diverse, equal, and inclusive.

DEI is about affording all individuals an equal opportunity to be educated, employed, and free as per the U.S. Constitution. However, it’s also about providing marginalized groups with the sort of representation they need to bring about lasting systemic change. It’s hard to argue against the importance of something like that.

How to Get Involved

If you’re interested in becoming a champion of greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in any facet of your community, there are a number of avenues you can pursue. The ﬁrst step would be to better educate yourself on not only DEI but also any races, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, etc. with which you are not familiar. Once you’ve gained a deeper understanding of these marginalized groups, seek out members of your community who are taking action to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Perhaps there’s an advocacy group seeking to inﬂuence DEI policy. Or maybe there’s a community coalition that’s looking to gather different social and cultural groups in order to address local issues pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion. There could also be groups of DEI activists that organize rallies and protests in response to the injustices they see in their community and in the world at large. Seek out the group that speaks to you and join them.

Learning Resources

There are free resources, social media groups, and entire college courses all centered on DEI, so it’s safe to say there’s plenty to learn on the subject. It may seem very daunting to dive into this type of activism, especially since it’s so important to so many people. Just know that, when it comes to DEI, perfection is not expected. All you need is the willingness to learn and ﬁght for what you believe!

Get involved with us today to further our DEI impact and become a change agent in your community!

If you want to learn more about Wholespire’s race equity in the workplace journey, visit our DEI webpage. It has complete information about our framework, as well as resources to explore. You can also find race equity resources on Options for Action.

Race Equity in the Workplace Blog Series

Part 2: Getting Started with Race Equity in the Workplace

Part 3: 6 Steps to Advance Race Equity in the Workplace

Part 4: How do you access race equity in the workplace?

The Best Outdoor Activities for an Active Lifestyle

Nov 9, 2021 | Blog

Do you want to get outside and be more active but don’t know where to begin? It’s not always easy to stay energized about maintaining an active lifestyle when you’re stuck doing the same activities in the same places. Fortunately, there are plenty of outdoor activities in South Carolina where you can go to get your heart rate up and discover something new in the process.

Finding the right type of physical activity for you and doing it in a new scenic location—these are some of the best ways to be and stay active! When you’re truly enjoying yourself during physical activity, you won’t notice just how much exercise you’re getting. As a result, you’ll probably push yourself further than you would have if you were doing the same activity indoors or at the gym.

That’s right, ﬁtness folks! Workouts don’t need to feel like work. In order to help you strike the perfect balance between enjoyment and exercise, let’s take a look at a few outdoor activities in South Carolina our team likes.

Hiking the Palmetto Trail

The best way to take in any beautiful place is on foot. On the Palmetto Trail, you’ll be able to soak up all the scenic grandeur of South Carolina—from the mountains and the lakes to the cities and the small towns—all on your own two feet, or on a bicycle seat if that’s your preference.

On 350 miles out of the planned 500-mile-long cross-state trail, the foundation designated 26 different passages. These passages range in length from 1.3 to nearly 50 miles. Hikers and backpackers can enjoy the entire trail, and certain areas are open to mountain biking and even horseback riding, too.

Whether you’re looking for a breezy day trip or a challenging thru-hike, the Palmetto Trail is a great place to get your heart rate going. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll be able to say you covered all 500 miles of the trial, from Walhalla to Awendaw!

Cycling on Highway 11

Some ﬁtness fans prefer fast-paced activity. If that’s you, check out Highway 11, also known as the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. If you cycle along this road, you can see up to eight of South Carolina’s beautiful state parks in just one day. (You might have to plan a separate trip back to each park so you don’t miss any exciting natural landmarks.) Dust off that bike and hit the road!

Birdwatching in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge

Remember when we said that if you make physical ﬁtness fun you may not notice just how much exercise you’re getting? Well, if you’re a lover of wildlife, then birdwatching may just be that “fun” workout you need.

South Carolina has a wide array of parks and wildlife refuges where you can go to catch a glimpse of rare and endangered bird species, with Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge being among the most popular. Go there intending to ﬁnd plovers and pelicans and leave with a new record step count on your ﬁtness band.