We support community health and wellbeing through various grassroots programs that instill hope and build dreams
We believe that we can make the strongest impact on a community by working with the community and looking at the bigger picture.
Our community programs address Social Determinants of Health, which are the many underlying factors in a person’s life that have a direct affect on their overall health and wellbeing.
Approximately 80% of the factors that contribute to a person's health are dependent on the overall health of the community in which they live.
Access Health is part of a broad group of stakeholders that make up the Muskegon CHIR (Community Health Innovation Region), an initiative that works to align policies and resources to collectively improve the health of the community.
The work of the CHIR addresses factors that affect Muskegon residents’ health, such as housing, transportation, food insecurity, and access to high-quality medical care.
Access Health is the supporting organization for the CHIR’s Economic Opportunity Initiative, an action team based on community-identified priorities.
This group is working to engage all sectors in the community to identify innovative ways to improve Muskegon’s economic health and well-being.
With funds from the CDC Foundation and by through a community-led impact model, Access Health is working to increase COVID-19 and influenza vaccination rates in disproportionately impacted communities.
Through the Muskegon CHIR’s collective impact process, Access Health and its partners developed a Health Resilience Zone model. The goal of this initiative was to improve population health at the neighborhood level, while building capacity within local grassroots organizations.
Access Health provides administrative support for grassroots organizations that are working to reduce racial inequities in Muskegon communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Bringing together business leaders, educators, health and human services organizations, government officials, and residents, the first Livability Lab in 2019 provided a forum for people to work together to address challenges facing their community.
Together, this group brainstormed creative ways to address barriers that can impede the good health and prosperity for all residents of Muskegon County.
The result of Livability Lab was a community-led 100 Day Challenge, where smaller teams worked to enact the changes discussed at the event.
Since then, the work toward positive action and change has continued through Livability Lab 2.0 and 2.1.
And the next event, Livability Lab 3.0, is coming on October 11, 2022!