Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
City of Waterbury - Advancing Health Literacy for Improved Health Outcomes - ABSTRACTApplicant/Urban Area of Focus: City of Waterbury, ConnecticutType of ApplicantLocal municipalityType of JurisdictionLarge, urban, top 4th of most at-risk urban centers per CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) Target AreaCity of Waterbury, CT.Priority: 20 census tracts at greatest SVI riskFunding Request$4,000,000The City of Waterbury ? Department of Public Health requests $4,000,000 for Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19, CFDA 93.137.1. STATEMENT OF NEED: The pandemic has hit the City of Waterbury harder than surrounding communities and the state as a whole, and Waterbury remains a hotspot for COVID-19, with a COVID-19 positivity rate of 63.9 per 100,000 residents compared to statewide COVID-19 positivity of 29 per 100,000 residents (CTDPH, as of 4/8/2021). Although CT has one of the highest average per capita income rates in the country, 23.38% of residents and 34.92% of children in Waterbury have income below the poverty level; both rates are significantly higher than the statewide rates of 9.92% and 13.31% respectively. Waterbury?s census is approximately 107,568 with 37.8% of the population identifying as White, 18.8% of the population identifying as African-American, and 37.4% as Hispanic/Latino (US Census Bureau, 2015-2019). Approximately 78,926 City residents live in one of 20 census tracts at greatest SVI risk, the priority population for proposed interventions. 2. PROPOSED APPROACH: The City of Waterbury proposes to deploy Community Health Workers and to deliver mobile primary care services at fixed site Community Health Hubs located in the SVI health deserts, with direct linkage to medical homes by a referral/data platform. As the 5th largest city in CT, Waterbury is of qualifying urban population size and has extensive, preexisting community partnerships. The City and community partners founded the Greater Waterbury Health Partnership (GWHP), a strong community partnership focuse d on health improvement. The Waterbury Health Department (WHD) is an active partner of the GWHP, and has long cared for the residents of SVI neighborhoods by bringing mobile services directly into these health service deserts. The proposed approach expands upon the WHD model and the GWHP infrastructure to partner with community agencies for the provision of services. The approach is reinforced by the pre-existing use of the Unite Us referral/data platform, which provides an effective network for partners and data to support project evaluation efforts. 3. Organizational Capacity: The City of Waterbury will rapidly mobilize existing municipal assets and collaborate with key community partners, including FQHCs, health and social service providers, faith-based and equity partners located in SVI census tracts. The City of Waterbury and partners are well qualified to successfully implement the project and have significant clinical and community expertise, data infrastructure and long-established commitments to improving the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable residents.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).