$20,000 Grant to Help Increase Physical Activity and Decrease Health Disparities
ST. LOUIS, MO—SEPTEMBER 26, 2018—Beyond Housing is thrilled to announce that the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has recently awarded a $20,000 grant to support Beyond Housing’s Passport to Health (P2H) Program.
Beyond Housing and the P2H Program serves residents throughout the 24:1 Community, which is comprised of the 24 municipalities within the school district of Normandy in North St. Louis County.
“We are excited to partner with the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, specifically related to health initiatives,” said Jackie Hamilton, Beyond Housing’s chief development officer. “Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation’s support will help us make an even greater impact by improving the health of adults, children, and future generations to come. It’s all part of our ongoing effort to help the community become a better place to live.”
The P2H Program seeks to increase residents’ physical activity levels and decrease health disparities through the provision of free fitness activities, with a variety of classes including Zumba, Yoga, Butts and Guts, Golden Warriors, and Slide Dancing offered six days a week at convenient locations throughout the community. In addition, P2H also features walking and cycling groups.
P2H also works to create healthy eating habits in the 24:1 Community through cooking classes on preparing healthy meals, nutrition education, and events that promote healthy diets.
In 2017, participants of the program reported an average 84 percent increase in their physical activity levels, and 78 percent reported an increased confidence in their ability to control their health.
“Beyond Housing does great work in communities where they operate. By providing free fitness and healthy cooking classes in these areas, we can help program participants increase physical activity levels and put a greater focus on health eating,” said Amadou Yattassaye, president, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Missouri.
About Beyond Housing
BEYOND HOUSING exists to build strong communities that support healthy families and children. As a comprehensive and nationally recognized community development organization, Beyond Housing brings civic leaders, targeted non-profits, corporate partners, and residents together to help entire communities become better places to live.
We believe the key to building successful and thriving communities is through a comprehensive, holistic approach—one that provides support and resources in the areas of education, housing, health, employment readiness and access, economic development, and personal finance.
About Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation
Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, promotes Anthem’s inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield serves. The Foundation focuses it’s funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company’s year-round Associate Giving program and its parent foundation provides a 50 percent match of associates’ pledges. ®ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield names and symbols are registered marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
