Collaboration and community leadership have helped to launch Accelerate, a new health and well-being movement in five Northern Michigan counties aimed at improving health outcomes.

The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation (GTRCF) created Accelerate and is leading this work with a large group of diverse partners and supporters, including six other CMF members: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Jim and Diana Huckle Family Foundation, Michigan Health Endowment Fund, Northwestern Michigan College, Oleson Foundation and Rotary Charities of Traverse City.

“Health is 80 percent outside of the clinical setting, 40 percent are our choices and lifestyle. The other 40 percent is your zip code, where you live and the social determinants of health,” Jesse Wolff, senior advisor for Accelerate at GTRCF told CMF. “Our focus is on the 80 percent that includes prevention, removing barriers to health and well-being and reducing health inequities across communities.” 

GTRCF shares that they are organizing their efforts around three areas: People, Place, and Policy. Within these, Accelerate is focusing first around several efforts to:

• Improve access to behavioral health care in the region. This includes using Telehealth and bringing local tech startups to the region to work on solutions for access and other health issues.

• Mobilize resources for health and wellness projects in the region, including funding as well as public awareness of issues and entities.

• Collaborate and convene to strengthen relationships in the health ecosystem in order for the whole to thrive and reduce inequities.

• Invest in social determinants of health where leverage is possible.

In 2017, GTRCF began this work by convening funders, partners and experts to understand the role the community foundation could play in improving health and well-being in the region. GTRCF funded a study which identified that the community foundation could lead this work as a convener, assist with cross-sector collaborations and catalyze these efforts.

Through this process plans are now in the works for a health district on 8^th Street in Traverse City. Wolff explains health districts typically involve mixed-use buildings with workplace housing, access to affordable food, clinical services, public transportation, access to recreation and more.

Approached by the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority, GTRCF researched this work nationally and connected with a design firm to recommend a model that could be deployed locally and align with an existing 8^th Street corridor redevelopment plan. A phase one planning session with stakeholders is expected to happen in early March.

Through Accelerate, GTRCF is also in an ongoing collaboration with its regional public transit system and a tech startup that’s focused on increasing the use of transportation for medical appointments. The goal is to increase Medicaid-reimbursed ridership using public transit.

Wolff told CMF that the tech startup will deploy its transportation coordinated technology with improved alerts and reminders to reduce cancellations and no-shows, as well as a dedicated mobile app to enroll and qualify the users of various agency services.

As Accelerate grows, Wolff shares at the root of it all is collaboration and the community foundation’s role as a convener.

“Accelerate is really about a role and a strategic commitment by the community foundation to engage in and support the regional health and well-being ecosystem,” Wolff said. “Together with partners, we connect the dots strategically based on vital endeavors. We seek to help those who are driving better outcomes accelerate the pace of needed change. We look for opportunities for connecting ecosystem entities together who haven’t worked together before.”