Funding will support 40 AmeriCorps members to meet public health needs of local communities and help rebuild the nation’s public health sector
Contact: Stacey Evans, sevans@chronicdisease.org
ATLANTA (April 6, 2022) – The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors announced today that it has received a Public Health AmeriCorps grant from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. The grant will engage 40 AmeriCorps members to support existing state- and community-level action in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in up to 20 states.
Public Health AmeriCorps is a partnership between AmeriCorps and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supported by a five-year, $400 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act. Public Health AmeriCorps will help meet public health needs of local communities by providing surge capacity and support while also creating pathways to public health-related careers.
“We are excited to partner with the premier governmental workforce providers AmeriCorps to support, augment, and achieve excellence in training the next generation of public health leaders,” said NACDD CEO John W. Robitscher, MPH.
The program will be a part of NACDD’s Center for Advancing Healthy Communities (CAHC), which supports state, local, and territory-based programs and consists of several programs and teams that focus in the areas of food and nutrition insecurity, physical activity and built environment, tobacco cessation, obesity, social connectedness, chronic disease-related mental health, and equity/social justice.
With this new funding, NACDD will leverage the skills and experience of AmeriCorps members within the first year to assist states with increasing the number of organizations that improve their efficiency, effectiveness, and/or program reach in addressing food and nutrition insecurity, improving access to safe physical activity opportunities, and/or reducing social isolation and loneliness through policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change approaches.
Working in partnership with other national organizations, Public Health AmeriCorps members will be tasked with building capacity and leveraging existing efforts towards disaster recovery, and systems and resource development as well as promoting sustainable actions that support healthy living. NACDD will work with states to continue meeting the ever-changing needs of the pandemic and assisting communities in leveraging resources to promote a healthy environment.
AmeriCorps provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.
—
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
Promoting Health. Preventing Disease.
The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and its more than 7,000 Members seek to strengthen state-based leadership and expertise for chronic disease prevention and control in states and nationally. Established in 1988, in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NACDD is the only membership association of its kind to serve and represent every chronic disease division in all states and U.S. territories. For more information, visit chronicdisease.org.