1802-13900

This investment supports the United Way of Roanoke Valley (UWRV) to act as a lead convener in the Roanoke community as part of the Grassroots Engagement Strategy. Healthy Roanoke Valley is an initiative of UWRV formed as a community-driven effort focused on increasing access to care, coordination of care, and overall community wellness. During Year 3, UWRV worked on making oral healthcare more accessible; improving oral health knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors; continuing to develop infrastructure for grassroots engagement around oral health and overall health; and continuing to build a shared understanding and awareness of the role of racial and social equity in oral health and overall health. Year 4 will build on this momentum and include expanding the mini grant program to increase the diversity of community voices in the work, as well as working with ReThink Health to increase their focus on health equity and systems change. $100,799.80 will support staff time; meeting, travel, and marketing expenses; ReThink Health expenses; and community mini grants. This proposal aligns with the Oral Health 2020 Goal 6 of improving the public perception of the value of oral health to overall health and the target that oral health is increasingly included in health dialogue and public policy.