Community / Project Resources

East St. Louis Making Health Happen

By East St. Louis Health Department

East St. Louis Health Department created this poster to highlight their initiatives with local corner stores, including improving access to fresh produce, marketing healthy messages, and hosting cooking. demonstrations. This poster was created during the CPHMC project and presented at NWA’s Annual Conference in May 2016.

With a majority of East St. Louis considered a food dessert, residents living in and immediately surrounding this city struggle to find fresh, healthy foods. Often times the only convenient places to purchase foods are at the abundance of local corner stores. Sadly, these corner stores are primarily stocked with unhealthy, highly processed foods high in added sugar, saturated fat, and sodium – all factors that place the largely African American community at an increased risk for chronic diseases. By working within the current food model, the Make Health Happen Coalition decided to partner with the local corner stores to increase both the amount and variety of healthy foods. This partnership with the corner stores resulted in store modifications including stocking the shelves with more fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, eggs, beans, water, and more. To promote the program, Make Health Happen signage was posted by these healthy foods throughout the stores. Additional outreach to help residents get excited about this program included conducting nutrition educations and cooking demonstrations. The Make Health Happen Coalition also developed informational resources on local food pantries, farmers’ markets, and local meal sites. Additionally, the program was promoted in many local doctors’ offices through the WIC to 5 promotional materials.

View Resource

Date Added
December 4, 2017

Citation
East St. Louis Health Department (2016) East St. Louis Making Health Happen. Available online: https://thewichub.sfo2.digitaloceanspaces.com/2017/10/East-Side-HD-Poster-for-NWA_Final.pdf