Health Fundamentals Newsletter

An online newsletter published by the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund.

July 2009 Special Issue

General News

"Think of the Possibilities" funding offered; webinars scheduled for July 21-23, 27 Think of the Possibilities Funding logo
The Health Fund invites you to think of the possibilities and submit proposals to help your organization realize “special opportunities” to address three health issues in Kansas:

Healthful physical activity and nutrition for young children (ages 0-6);
Early screening, identification, prevention and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral health issues of young children (ages 0-6); and
Access to primary care for unserved and underserved Kansans

The Health Fund’s Board has committed $500,000 to this grant program. The maximum grant that may be requested is $75,000. A series of informational webinars for potential applicants will be held July 21, 22, 23, and 27. Reservations are required; sign up online at healthfund.org.

Think of the Possibilities grants are intended to provide “special opportunities” to organizations working in one of the three health issue areas noted above. This funding opportunity supports the following types of projects:

Start-up or material expansion of an activity with sustainability beyond the grant term
Meaningful innovation in an existing activity to improve the efficiency, quality, or scale of the work
Attraction of new dollars from outside the State or funding from a source not previously supporting similar work
Bridge funding for an existing service threatened by current economic conditions

Letters of Interest through the online application system are due September 1, 2009. A limited number of the most promising concepts will be selected and invited to submit final proposals due by October 26. Awards will be made before the end of the year.

Full details and a sample application form for Think of the Possibilities grants are available on the Health Fund website healthfund.org.

Questions may be directed to Virginia Elliott, Vice President for Programs, at 800-369-7191 or velliott@healthfund.org.

Attention Church Child Care Programs - training available
How active are our young children these days? Not as active as you might believe, based on recent studies of child care programs. Healthy Kansas Kids is a free training program that is helping child care programs rev up the child care day to get young children more active and eating better. It offers you and your child care volunteers and employees proven techniques for integrating more physical activity and nutrition into your program. Healthy Kansas Kids is a year-long training opportunity open to licensed part-day or full-day child care programs that serve children from birth to age 8. Participating programs receive free in-service training on how to promote healthy eating habits in young children, as well as ways to design and promote physical play indoors and out. On-site technical assistance and mini-grants (up to $500) are other components of the program. Healthy Kansas Kids is offered statewide through the Kansas Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (KACCRRA) and funded through a grant from the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund. For eligibility requirements and additional information, please contact the KACCRRA Healthy Kansas Kids Director, Cathy Gray cathy@kaccrra.org. The program may fill up fast, so email Cathy soon if you want the children in your care to move more and eat better!

Healthy Congregations

Partnering with local United Methodist churches for a healthier Kansas

Covenant program offers funding, training, and other resources for health ministries
The Healthy Congregations Covenant program is designed to provide training, funding, and technical support to help Kansas United Methodist churches develop and grow effective, high quality health ministry programs.

The Healthy Congregations Covenant program offers two participation options to fit churches at different stages of health ministry development and commitment.

Covenant of Participation - Level One
Designed for churches just starting their health ministry programs or not yet ready to make the greater commitment of the Level Two Covenant, Level One participation provides $100 annually with completion of a simple report.

Covenant of Action - Level Two
Level Two participation includes training of a health ministry team and development of an annual work plan. Each church that commits to completing the seven capacity-building core training courses, submitting an annual work plan, and submitting an annual activity report will be awarded a $1,000 "signing bonus" for program and training support.

Once a Level Two team has achieved "certified" status by completing the core courses (see below article) within 24 months, the church qualifies for $1,000 cash support each subsequent year by submitting a health ministry activity plan and report by the annual March 1 deadline. For the 27 churches which previously participated in the Healthy Congregations in Action pilot project, if at least three HCIA team members are retained on the new Covenant health ministry team, the training requirement may be waived at the discretion of the program administrator and/or Health Fund.

Report forms revised and simplified
The new Healthy Congregations Report, which fulfills the Covenant reporting requirements, has been greatly simplified. The report asks for information on the church's 3 to 5 most effective health ministry activities. We're especially interested in knowing about new and innovative programs so we can share that information with other congregations.

Churches may sign up for the covenant program throughout the year. Non-HCIA churches signing up as Level 2 participants will receive an initial $1,000 "signing bonus" for training and program support after their completed Covenant form has been accepted. Details of the new Healthy Congregations Covenant program are available on our website.

Healthy Congregations Covenant trainings available - July 18, August 29, October 10
The Health Fund is sponsoring a series of regional training courses to help Kansas United Methodist churches develop and grow effective health ministry programs. The trainings include seven "core" courses as well as a number of electives. There is no cost to register or attend, but pre-registration is required.

The courses count toward the training requirements of the Healthy Congregations Covenant program, but a Covenant agreement is not required to attend. If your church may be interested in future participation, or you would just like to learn more about ways to deliver high-quality health ministries, we encourage you to register today.

The 7 Core courses are:

Health Ministry 101 - 3 hours
Volunteer Recruitment & Retention - 2 hours
Outcomes-based Planning - 2 hours
Group Facilitation Techniques - 2 hours
Program Options & How to Plan Program Events - 2 hours
Health Communications & Marketing - 2 hours
Program Evaluation & Using Data - 2 hours

Training dates for 2009 are July 18, August 29, and October 10. Each training event offers four courses (three core and one elective). The trainings are offered simultaneously at five regional locations across the state including Wichita, Topeka, Pittsburg, Hays, and Garden City.

You will need to provide your own food and beverages at the training sessions. Please plan to either bring brown-bag lunches and drinks for your team, or skip one class and go out for lunch during that time slot. A refrigerator and microwave oven are available for participant use at each site.

More event information, including a full schedule and online registration, is available at www.healthfund.org/hcctraining.php.

Healthy Lifestyles

Promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity to maintain and improve health

Self-Care Workshops series; Beloit, Overland Park, Dodge City are next locations
The Health Fund is underwriting a series of free workshops for Kansas United Methodist clergy, clergy spouses, and church staff throughout 2009. Servant Leadership: Personal and Professional Self-Care provides a structured opportunity for individuals to examine their current choices within the areas of mental/emotional, physical, social, and spiritual health and to develop personalized plans for behavioral and environmental changes to improve their personal health. The next two workshops are scheduled for July 11th in Topeka and July 25th in Beloit.

Workshop participants will explore the connections between spiritual, mental, social, and physical health; understand how servant leadership requires self-care; experience stress-management techniques; learn how to say "no"; self-assess current health behaviors and choices; and discuss current knowledge and recommendations for nutrition, physical activity, hydration, and sleep, and how to personally implement those recommendations.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have developed a structured self-care covenant for behavioral and environmental changes to improve personal health, and an accountability plan to help keep on track with the chosen self-care goals.

Mark your calendars and plan to attend one of these free events in your community. Pre-registration is required. Workshop details, dates, locations, and online pre-registration can be found on the Health Fund website www.healthfund.org/selfcare.php.

C 2009 United Methodist Health Ministry Fund
www.healthfund.org – healthfund@healthfund.org – 620.662.8586 – 800.369.7191