Healthy Babies Initiative

In partnership with Healthy Babies Bright Futures, we are working with cities to improve children’s health and reduce health disparities, specifically those that decrease neurotoxic exposures.

City leaders can dramatically impact children’s health, in particular children of color, who are most adversely impacted by these environmental harms. By addressing the social and physical determinants of health through access to healthy foods, lead abatement, and more, city leaders can play a major role in addressing these disparities.

News

  • Carlisle Borough: New Community Garden

    Located at Grandview Court near the intersection of K and West Streets, this project was made possible by a $10,000 grant issued to the Borough of Carlisle from Healthy Babies Bright Futures and the Mayors Innovation Project.

  • Grant award to help brighten future for Meadville youths

    Kinder initiated local interest in the grant after learning of it at the Mayors Innovation Project summer meeting in Scranton, where she was a panelist for a discussion of rental housing and tenant protections. After meeting Kyra Naumoff Shields, director of the grant program, there, Kinder worked with Roberson when she returned to Meadville to pursue the grant.

  • Leadership to reduce and prevent lead exposure

    By Katya Spear | Managing Director ∙ Mayors Innovation Project From educational campaigns, to access to water and soil testing kits, to procurement policies and lead pipe replacement programs, there are many impactful steps city leaders can …

  • Petaluma’s Youth Plant Trees to Reduce Air Toxics

    City parks are a public asset that deliver co-benefits in public health and climate change mitigation. Ensuring their safety, accessibility, and sustained funding is critical work.

  • Replicating a Groundbreaking Idea to Couple Building Sustainability and Public Health

    The Mayors Innovation Project, in partnership with Healthy Babies Bright Futures, provided grants to cities across the country to work toward better health outcomes for children. We are excited to share the story of one of our grant recipients, Middleton, WI.

  • More

Case Study: Salem, MA

How Salem, MA Provided Thousands of Pounds of Organic Food to Local Families

“The funding we received from HBBF and MIP allowed the City of Salem to distribute over 6,000 pounds of healthy, locally grown produce to Salem families this summer,” said Mayor Driscoll. “In addition to improving access to healthy food, it was also a tremendous community building experience.”

Recent Publications

  • To build a brighter future for babies—in part by combating high rates of obesity, food insecurity, and childhood poverty—the City of Champaign and Champaign Township partnered with  Champaign-Urbana City Farms (CU City Farms) to create a Mobile Food Market. Since its launch in September 2020, the Mobile Food Market distributed more than 5,000 pounds of organic,  locally grown produce, organic baby food, diapers and formula—free of charge—to more than 1,000 community members.

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  • Residents and community leaders in Lynn, MA worked together to address food insecurity by bolstering the Central Square Farmers Market and associated services to improve the health of  pregnant women and young children. The City of Lynn, 10 miles north of Boston, is known for its contemporary public art, international population, historic homes, and public parks and open  spaces. Relatively old housing stock, however, makes Lynn prone to lead paint hazards.

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  • In 2019, the Mack Park Food Farm, a municipal farm and food forest, replaced an unused baseball field at a city park in Salem, Massachusetts. Today, it encompasses about 10,000 square  feet, along with a recently constructed pond that captures water for irrigation and overflows to a nearby urban wetland. The Food Farm grew from the efforts of local residents and agriculturalists Matt Buchanan, Pat Schultz, and Andy Varela. It was built in 2020 with about $40,000 in grants, including a $5,000 grant from the Healthy Babies Initiative sponsored by Bright Cities and the Mayors Innovation Project.

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