The Walls Project received $150,000 in grant funding to address poverty in Baton Rouge. Additionally, the total investment in the city-parish of East Baton Rouge from American Heart Association/Voices for Healthy Kids for this work is $450,000. These funds will support the project’s commitment to dismantling the racial and health inequities people of color and people with low incomes face in the community.
“The Walls Project is honored to serve as a hub organization helping to pilot this new innovative advocacy and policy impact program from American Heart Association/Voices for Healthy Kids in East Baton Rouge Parish. We look forward to working with the capital area nonprofits recently awarded competitive grants. This generous investment and technical assistance will bring positive and lasting change to our community”, said Mary Bergeron, director of advancement with The Walls Project.
The Walls Project is funded as a hub organization to help support the establishment of the project as well as coordination of the work of the campaigns throughout the pilot. Together, through OneRouge, this layered campaign along with its partners will work toward building prosperity and empowering people to accelerate their own lives by disrupting drivers of poverty.
Big River Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance (BREADA) will advocate for the expansion of the Women, Infant, and Children Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program (WIC FMNP) participation at farmers markets by seeking funding and/or an executive order that supports WIC clients in purchasing fresh, local fruits and vegetables. Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) will work with the Power Coalition, the Mayor's Office, the Baton Rouge Planning Commission, and other stakeholders to develop and execute a campaign to strengthen the existing East Baton Rouge City-Parish Complete Streets Policy. Three O'clock Project will work with Health Care Centers in Schools, Inc. on Good Food Purchasing and Out-of-School Nutrition polices by seeking administrative approval and budget enhancements from the EBR area school board.
“The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice will continue to activate power in Black communities centering those most impacted by oppressive systems,” said Morgan Shannon from The Power Coalition.
Voices for Healthy Kids, an initiative of the American Heart Association awarded The Walls Project this funding. Furthermore, the initiative awarded policy campaign grants to five other nonprofit organizations in East Baton Rouge for use in strategic issue advocacy campaigns focused on improving health equity with a focus on improved neighborhoods, physical environments, economic security, food security, and healthy eating.
For more information about The Walls Project, BREADA, CPEX, the Power Coalition, Three O’clock Project, Health Care Centers in Schools, and the important work they do in Baton Rouge, visit https://www.thewallsproject.org, https://breada.org, https://www.cpex.org, https://powercoalition.org/, https://www.threeoclockproject.org, https://ololchildrens.org/our-network/clinical-specialties/health-centers-in-schools/