G-2106-17066

Ministerial Health Fellowship (MHF) is a faith-based healthcare advocacy network of Black pastors and church leaders from the Middletown, New Britain, and Hartford areas of Connecticut (CT). Ministerial Health Fellowship has four primary pillars of work: building knowledge of healthcare issues; advocating for health equity; forging connections and partnerships to reduce health disparities for BIPOC communities; and developing and implementing community-based programs.

Ministerial Health Fellowship is seeking $112,274 from the Strengthen Community Voice and State Advocacy subprogram of the Advancing Equity Fund to hire, train and utilize a Community Health Worker within faith-based environments to advocate for systems change for improved access to oral health, and to provide BIPOC community members with oral health education and self-advocacy tools.

MHF will deliver grassroots advocacy training to focused on cultivating advocate relationships, connecting with policy makers about oral health systems change priorities, developing advocacy plans, and peer-to-peer advocacy. Some of the communications tactics MHF will implement include targeted messaging, text message outreach, social media strategies and neighborhood canvassing. The broader oral health communications campaign will reach at least 5,000 BIPOC community members, and 40 individuals will receive oral healthcare navigation services. MHF will also implement and support oral health training around dental diseases and conditions, navigating the oral healthcare system in CT, and developing relationships with local oral healthcare providers, including FQHCs.

Ministerial Health Fellowship will partner with the Connecticut Oral Health Initiative (COHI), a CareQuest Institute grantee, and Middlesex Health to access statewide data that will inform the project and training for the Community Health Worker.

Ultimately, the Community Healthcare Worker will engage with oral health advocacy organizations in the state, legislative policy makers, and community members to provide education and raise solutions to systemic oral health issues. All community-based communications tactics will be grounded in culturally competent approaches relevant to the BIPOC community in CT.

Budget line items include the Community Health Worker salary, supplies and milage for Community Health Worker’s travel. Additional expenses include a portion of the Project Director salary, fees for trainings for the Community Health Worker, and fees for a peer-to-peer text messaging platform. This request represents 17% of Ministerial Health Fellowship’s overall organization budget.