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Objective 1: Measure
Research & Community Measurement
We work alongside residents of Third Ward and Sunnyside to measure health conditions in their own neighborhoods. Community members decide what questions get asked, review what the findings mean, and hold the data. Much of what we measure is not tracked by any other source, which means these communities have had to make their case without evidence.
❋ The Groundwork ProjectA long term study following the same households in Third Ward and Sunnyside over three years, looking at health coverage, food, medication, trust, and economic stability together rather than one at a time. A community governance committee approves the questions, and residents themselves collect the data.
❋ The Structural Burden Index A new way of measuring how hardships stack up in the same household. Losing health coverage, rationing medication, and falling behind on rent are usually counted separately. This measure counts them together, because that is how families experience them.
❋ Rapid Community Assessment A rapid, door to door community health assessment method we can deploy quickly when a neighborhood or a public agency needs a clear picture fast. We have used it in Third Ward in partnership with the Houston Health Department.
Objective 2: Deliver
Community Health Programs
Measurement matters only if it changes something. We deliver chronic disease screening, education, and peer support in the same neighborhoods we study, so that what we learn turns into services residents can actually use.❋ Chronic Disease Screening
Free community screening for diabetes, blood pressure, and related conditions, run in the neighborhoods where people already are. Results are explained on the spot, and anyone who needs follow up is connected to a program and a person, not handed a pamphlet.❋ Peer Support and Community Engagement
Group sessions where people managing the same conditions learn from one another, set goals together, and work through the practical barriers that make health programs hard to finish.❋ Partner Access Day
A recurring day when residents can get screened, enroll in our programs, and connect directly with partner organizations in their neighborhood.❋ Healthy Conversations That Matter
Community conversations about health, led in partnership with the people who live here. Residents bring what is affecting them, we bring information they can use, and the exchange shapes what we work on next.Objective 3: Transfer
Community Capacity & Data Ownership
Research usually leaves when the funding does. We build it to stay. Residents are trained and credentialed as community researchers, findings go back to the community before they go anywhere else, and the data belongs to the people it describes.
❋ Third Ward and Sunnyside State of Health
Our annual report and community gathering on the state of health in Third Ward and Sunnyside. Findings are presented to the community first, by community members, before they go to any agency, funder, or journal.
❋ CTH Fellows Program
A fellowship that trains people to do this work: gathering data, running programs, and building health knowledge in their own communities. Fellows finish with real experience and a credential they own.
❋ Community Partner Network
The organizations we work with year round: churches, clinics, markets, and neighborhood groups that make this work possible and shape where it goes.