Open AccessLeveraging Collective Impact to Address Structural Racism in Buncombe County, North Carolina
Author(s) -
Dawn M Hunter,
Zo Mpofu
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of public health management and practice
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.771
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1550-5022
pISSN - 1078-4659
DOI - 10.1097/phh.0000000000001434
Subject(s) - community organization , community organizing , racism , public relations , general partnership , public health , community based participatory research , community health , health equity , political science , community development , affordable housing , health promotion , sociology , participatory action research , economic growth , medicine , nursing , gender studies , anthropology , law , economics
Buncombe County, North Carolina, was recognized in 2014 as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize Winner for its work fostering collaboration and partnership to address community health needs. As part of this work, Buncombe County Health and Human Services (HHS) convened a cross-sector Public Health Advisory Council that supported community-based initiatives and ensured that community members were involved in identifying and implementing solutions to issues such as poverty and child well-being. Leveraging existing relationships and past efforts, Buncombe County has continued to build collaborative networks for systems change using a collective impact framework. Bringing together partners across sectors, including the faith community, Black fraternities and sororities, community health workers, consulates, and others, Buncombe County HHS is supporting efforts to train and equip community members to lead health promotion efforts and community conversations on historical trauma and racial healing; engage community members in the policymaking process through town halls; and archive the community's pandemic journey through storytelling. The collective impact framework has shaped an environment that supports community change by centering community aspirations and values. This environment informed recent declarations by Buncombe County HHS and the Board of Commissioners that racism is a public health crisis, as well as a resolution by the city of Asheville supporting community reparations. This article explores how the collective impact framework has been used in Buncombe County to engage and continually invest in communities of color and reviews steps taken to develop and implement an equity action plan to address structural racism.