Project Title: Changing Children’s Lives By Changing School and Community Health Paradigms

Grant: $150,000.00

Location:  Niagara County

The New York State Health Foundation, established by the State of New York with charitable funds from the privatization of Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, today announced its first 23 grantees. The grant to The Health Association of Niagara County, Inc. (HANCI), a nonprofit agency that promotes wellness, independence and good quality of life through its caregiver, senior and child care programs, was made to support a program that fights obesity and aims to achieve a lifetime reduction in chronic disease for children and adolescents of Niagara Falls.  The project aims to achieve this objective through a review and revision of school nutrition policies and pilot testing and possible implementation of Fitness Report Cards.

"This initiative will target low-income, racially and ethnically diverse youth in schools and community-based settings to fight child and adolescent obesity and thereby attempt to ensure a lifetime reduction in chronic disease,” said James R. Knickman, President and CEO of NYSHealth. “It's remarkably well thought out and takes advantages of existing cooperative relationships in the community, especially with the Niagara Falls City School system.”

The grant to the Health Association of Niagara County (HANCI) is among 23 proposals chosen from over 600 for the inaugural round of grant making by NYSHealth.

"We are thrilled to be able to help the children of our community," said John Kinner, Executive Director of HANCI.  "This project will provide our youth the tools to become healthier children and adults."  

This program will fight obesity and its associated lifelong chronic disease for the

children and adolescents of Niagara Falls through policy change at the Niagara Falls

City School District and environmental change at community-based program sites. The first policy-related activity will be to facilitate a review and revision of school nutrition policies.  The review will include nutrition menu content and vending machine content and access. The second policy-related activity will be to assist with the pilot testing and possible implementation of Fitness Report Cards that include such measures as BMI, aerobic capacity and brief parental advisories. HANCI will also work with community-based partners. The first step will be an adapted “Stop Light Diet” curriculum with parental engagement in community-based after-school programs. This curriculum was specifically designed for children ages 6-12 and has been successfully used by adolescents and adults. The other intervention with the community-based after-school programs is to introduce an adapted “Adult Health and Development Program” (AHDP) with college student mentors. This adapted version, the “Fitness Buddy” program, will pair a college student mentor from Niagara University with a young person from a community-based organization to engage in non-competitive, structured physical activity on Saturdays.

Although it plans to serve every school aged youth in Niagara Falls, the program will target low-income, racially and ethnically diverse youths.

NYSHealth makes grants that reflect its three-part mission to (1) expand health insurance coverage to the 2.8 million state residents without it, (2) increase access to high-quality health care services to vulnerable populations, and (3) improve public and community health by educating New Yorkers about health concerns and by empowering communities to address them. 

Founded in 1927, The Health Association of Niagara County Inc. (HANCI), a not-for-profit community organization, provides a range of programs and services that promote independence and a healthy lifestyle across generations.

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