The We Choose Health initiative includes several state agencies, local organizations, health providers, schools, businesses and other community groups. IDOT is a partner in this initiative under the  Healthy and Safe Built Environment strategic area.

Background:

As part of the Affordable Care Act, Congress made funds available for ongoing chronic disease prevention efforts in the form of Community Transformation Grants (CTG), administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As part of this program, Illinois received nearly $4.8 million dollars to implement proven evidence- and practice-based approaches to improve health and wellness among its communities, at least 35 percent of which will go specifically to rural populations.

As part of its CTG grant, IDPH has developed We Choose Health, a sub-award program to fund organizations and coalitions working on chronic disease prevention at the local level. IDPH is making $3.3 million dollars available for We Choose Health awardees, with maximum awards of up to $300,000 per year for a period of four years.

Supported activities:

We Choose Health specifically supports efforts that:

 

   * Reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in public places and in multi-unit housing 

  * Make healthy foods more available and unhealthy foods less available 

  * Create more safe and convenient places for walking, biking, and other physical activities 

  * Increase opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity in schools 

  * Support children in walking and/or biking to and from school 

Promote breastfeeding 

  * Support social and emotional wellness in school 

To apply:

Entities must first submit a completed letter of intent form via e-mail by 5 p.m. on May 18. The completed application is due by e-mail no later than 5 p.m. on June 15. Complete submission instructions are on the forms themselves.

To help prepare for the application, you are urged to attend one of the RFA information sessions scheduled for May 10 (1:00 - 3:00 p.m.) and May 15 (3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., and to use the policy briefs to help you determine the strategies that best meet the needs of your community.

Strategies will be targeted toward serving residents in rural counties and racial and ethnic minority groups in urban areas to reduce health disparities.

Eligibility:

Please note that the following counties do not qualify for these funds: Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will or Kane counties).  Those counties, which had populations in excess of 500,000, were required to submit CTG applications separate from IDPH and were not chosen for funding. 

Additional information:

Visit www.wechoosehealth.illinois.gov for more information. You can submit questions to DPH.wechoosehealth@illinois.gov.

They will post all questions and answers to their Frequently Asked Questions page, so visit the site frequently for updates. 

Please feel fee to forward this email to those who may be interested in applying.