Our Stories

Advocacy is an important part of community change. It allows community members to mobilize, rally around a common cause, and unite to make a positive change. But what exactly is advocacy? And how can you participate?

With an adult obesity rate of 46% and limited access to fresh, nutritious foods, Bienville Parish is one of Louisiana’s least healthy parishes. Using LHCC Community Grant funding, one community organization in Ringgold, LA chose to address these issues.

Here at LHCC, our mission is to build healthier, thriving communities by mobilizing them to develop policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes. So what are PSE changes? And how can people implement these kinds of changes to promote healthier behaviors in their communities?

To build healthy, thriving Louisiana communities, it’s important to utilize evidence-based interventions, also known as EBIs. As defined by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, EBIs are “strategies that have been proven to work.” Think interventions, programs, or projects that have strong research to back them up. They have been tested, tried, and proven to be effective.

All over Louisiana, people, especially in underserved communities, have limited access to healthy, nutritious foods. In Shreveport, the LSU AgCenter decided to use their LHCC Community Grant funding and bring together several community organizations to do something about it.

A little seed money is well on its way to making a big impact in East Baton Rouge. Copper Mill Elementary School is currently using LHCC Community Grant funding to improve nutrition for almost 900 fifth and sixth--grade students – and aims to reach more people in the future.

Want to see how a little seed money can positively impact a community?

We need our community more now than ever. From a global pandemic, to the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, to increasing rates of chronic disease, we must work together to address some of the issues that have been troubling our community like obesity and tobacco use. By empowering communities through policy, system, and environmental change (PSE), we can continue to address these issues head on through some exciting grant opportunities!