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Eastern Oregon Healthy Living Alliance (EOHLA) announced today that it has been awarded a $24,000 grant from the Oregon Community Recovery Fund to support a regional response to the coronavirus (COVID-19). This funding supports the work EOHLA, Nutrition Oregon Campaign, Oregon Food Bank, and Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization (EOCCO) have under way to support food access during the pandemic by expanding available fruits and vegetables through existing Veggie Rx programs in Sherman, Gilliam, Wheeler, Harney, Wallowa, and Malheur counties; increasing the local volunteer base by developing and maintaining an Eastern Oregon Mutual Aid Network; and supporting local food pantries in need.
Philanthropic partners, businesses and individuals across the state have taken quick action with contributions to the Oregon Community Recovery Fund. The fund, established by many partners throughout Oregon, and hosted by the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF), was established in March to rapidly deploy resources to community-based organizations at the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak. Resources are prioritized where and when they are critically needed, with a focus on Oregon’s most vulnerable populations.
Eastern Oregon Healthy Living Alliance (EOHLA) is part of the Nutrition Oregon Campaign, a statewide campaign grounded in the science of the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) that shows the relationship between early life environment, including nutrition, and lifelong chronic disease risk, and how that risk is passed from one generation to the next. The campaign, which is a program of OHSU’s Moore Institute, uses education, advocacy and capacity building to address chronic disease risk at the community level. DOHaD research has shown us the long-term, multigenerational health impacts of a dramatic change in nutrition access among populations, as well as the health impacts of poor nutrition before and during pregnancy and in the earliest years of life.
“We are at a moment when we can see access to food quickly slipping away from many in our communities, including those who were already living on the edge” said Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., Director of the OHSU Bob and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness. “Now is the time to find strategies to mutually benefit all organizations dedicated to improving the health of our communities. EOHLA is an example of an organization who cares enough to take action. More than ever we can’t do this work alone.”
Prior to the pandemic, Eastern Oregon communities struggled with food access. A community health assessment conducted by the EOCCO indicates that there are 26,180 people in Eastern Oregon who are food insecure with higher food insecurity rates than Oregon statewide in eight of twelve Eastern Oregon counties including Grant, Baker, Harney, Lake, Sherman, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler counties. Food insecurity, a social determinant of health that can impact overall health, including obesity and chronic disease, is a regional health priority within EOCCO’s Regional Community Health Improvement Plan. The 2010-13 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) indicates an average of 31.1% of adults in Eastern Oregon are obese as compared to Oregon 26.9%.
Anyone may contribute to the Oregon Community Recovery Fund. Donations are accepted online. Nonprofit organizations working to respond to this crisis can review funding guidelines and apply for grants on the OCF website.
Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) puts donated money to work in Oregon – more than $100 million in grants and scholarships annually. For more than 45 years, OCF grantmaking, research, advocacy and community-advised solutions have helped individuals, families, businesses and organizations create charitable funds to improve lives for all Oregonians. Impactful giving–time, talent and resources from many generous Oregonians–creates measurable change.
For more information about OCF, please visit: www.oregoncf.org
For more information about the EOHLA, please visit: www.eohla.org
