Although Clinton College brings much resources and success to the Rock Hill, South Carolina neighborhood where it is nestled, not all in the community are thriving. Now, a new multi-million dollar grant is here to change that. Read about how the college will be of service to its community in the new Clinton College release below.
Clinton College receives $3.5 million to address health disparities in vulnerable areas
Rock Hill, SC (June 28, 2021) – Clinton College and the City of Rock Hill announced on Monday a $3.5 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services to address the health disparities in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods, specifically the south side of Rock Hill.
The Clinton Health ConNEXTion grant is a partnership between Rock Hill and Clinton College. The college will lead project management, quality improvement, and evaluation through the Clinton College Community Development Corporation (CC-CDC).
“The true outcome is to improve the quality of life and length of life,” Mayor John Gettys said. “This could change the lives of people in our communities and that’s going to happen because people stood up in the community and said we can do better than what we have in the past.”
Clinton College will focus on wellness and community health, which includes health literacy and responses to COVID-19.
“We saw what COVID-19 did to our nation and our most vulnerable citizens have taken the brunt of that,” said President McCorn. “Many of them are African Americans and people of color.”
There are three main goals of the project:
- Service Provider Professional Development
Implement a Community Health Promotion Institute that supports a Health Service Provider Consortium (a collaboration among Impact York County health partners) in implementing health literacy training to enable Consortium members to implement or improve their practices that align with CLAS standards and the Healthy People 2030 objectives.
- Health Promotion Partnerships
Increase the participation of community stakeholders (residents, businesses, faith-based organizations, educational institutions, civic organizations, and healthcare providers) in collaborative projects and practices that promote health literacy and healthy behavior.
- PSE Health Promotion Advocacy
Increase community engagement in the planning, design, and evaluation of health improvement projects that will impact the policies, systems, environmental (PSE) resources that support residents in making their healthy choices easier and more accessible. The intent of this goal is to reach populations and uncover strategies for impact and sustainability beyond the current crisis in order to accelerate the adoption, implementation, and integration into existing infrastructures.
President McCorn said the project will not try to “reinvent the wheel.” Instead, the plan is to improve existing health services and review how they are promoted and used in everyday lives.
The Clinton Health ConNEXTion is supported by the Office of the Assistance Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $3,875,000 with 100 percent funded by the Office of the Assistance Secretary for Health/OASH/HHS.
