1602-11945

Grantee Address

Put People First! PA c/o Resources for Human Development
PA
United States

Pennsylvania: Support to Put People First! PA (PPF-PA) to act as a lead convener in the Philadelphia community, and other regions across Pennsylvania, as part of the Grassroots Engagement Strategy. PPF-PA serves as a vehicle to enable diverse individuals and families who are new to civic engagement to join together and make their voices more powerful and impactful collectively. Through leveraging their “Healthcare is a Human Right campaign,” PPF-PA is partnering with multiple stakeholders to work towards greater equity, participation, accountability of systems, and transparency, and will continue integrating oral health improvement into their efforts. Oral Health 2020 investment $100,000 will be used to engage 100 community health equity leaders this year in an oral health movement building effort, starting with one-on-one conversations through organizing efforts, and following up with ongoing engagement and relationship building through organizational workshops and survey distribution that will result in a broader populist movement. During this process, PPF! – PA organizers and steering committee members will lead an inclusive oral health planning process to create priorities for implementation starting in year three that are developed and lead by PA residents. Their second goal is to improve the public perception of oral health in relationship to overall health. Because oral health is so disconnected from overall health in the popular imagination it is necessary to bring this issue out from the shadows, properly framed as a political and social justice issue. Through a social media and community organizing campaign that involves (for example) a photo petition, a hashtag, and story sharing it is possible to lift up the importance of oral health and show the connection to overall health from directly impacted people. Digital storytelling is also a powerful way to do this and we have an excellent methodology - the "story of self" developed by Marshall Ganz and first deployed during the Obama campaign - that PPF! – PA organizers have been trained in and use to for their various campaigns, among other outreach methods and efforts. This investment aligns with the Oral Health 2020 focus of improving the public perception of the value of oral health.
Grant Amount
$99820.00