CHNA15 Home
Showcase 2013 and CHNA 15 Annual Meeting
May 14 at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center
41 Mall Road in Burlington (directions below)
1:30 – 2:30 Showcase 2013 in East Lobby
2:30 CHNA 15 Annual Meeting in the Auditorium
This year CHNA 15 returns to Lahey Hospital
and joins Lahey CBI in presenting Showcase 2013.
See exhibits of completed 2012-2013 MiniGrant projects!
View displays depicting Healthy Communities Planning Grant activity
in the towns of Bedford, Concord and Lexington!
In addition to having an opportunity to see Best Practices project exhibits,
you can talk with exhibitors who might help you develop your own project.
Annual Meeting immediately follows Showcase and will include a
panel presentation on Emerging Needs in Health Care.
Panelists representing the three hospitals that fund CHNA 15 will be
Jeffrey Doran, Chief Operating Officer at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center,
Kathleen Beyerman, Director of Center for Healthy Living at Winchester Hospital, and
Mary Johnson, Director of Community Health at Mount Auburn Hospital.
Network, Network, Network! See old friends and make new contacts!
You are invited to share these events as we celebrate a busy, but successful CHNA 15 year.
Won’t you join us on May 14?
Paid parking is available in the Lahey Clinic Parking Garage. Parking vouchers will be provided.
Directions to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington
- Access to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center from Route 128/I95, north or south, is Exit 33B.
- When heading south, this exit leads directly onto Mall Road.
- When heading north, Exit 33B leads onto Cambridge Street (Route 3A).
- At the first light turn left onto Mall Road.
- Once on Mall Road, Lahey Medical Center is on the left at the third set of lights.
Should you wish a map, consult the Lahey website at www.lahey.org/directions .
Community Health Network Area 15
Committed to collaboration and capacity building to address
Food and Nutrition: Access to Healthy Food/ Obesity and Overweight Mental Health: Depression and Anxiety/ Substance Abuse Public Safety: Domestic Violence/ Isolated Residents
CHNA 15 2013-2014 MiniGrant Released
CHNA 15 is seeking applications for funding MiniGrants up to $5,000 each for projects serving one or more communities in the CHNA 15 area. Awards will be made in late June. An Information Session will be held Thursday, April 11, from 11 AM to Noon at Woburn Senior Center, 144 School Street in Woburn. (See directions below.) Everyone, including former recipients, is strongly encouraged to attend the Information Session. Please email Jan Hanson, CHNA 15 Coordinator, at CHNA15Coordinator@gmail.com to let her know you are attending so sufficient handouts can be prepared. You are asked to copy and bring the RFP to the session.
A Notification of Intent to Apply is due by April 19 and proposals must be postmarked by May 17, 2013. Further details appear in the RFP. Click on Forms to view the RFP.
Directions to the Woburn Senior Center:
From 128: Take Exit 35 (Route 38, Woburn/Wilmington). Head North on Route 38 and at the first set of lights coming out of the rotary (Stop & Shop will be on your left), take a right onto Alfred Street. Follow this winding road for almost a mile, bearing left at the fork in the road. At the end of the road you will come to a stop sign, take a left onto School St. The Center is at 144 School Street.
CHNA 15 Announces Availability of Capacity Building Grants
2012-2013 Scholarship and Training Grants Add Community Training Opportunity
For several years CHNA 15 has offered individuals and agencies opportunities to receive financial assistance for Professional Development. CHNA 15 scholarships have been available for individuals in the twelve CHNA 15 communities to attend trainings/ conferences or to take online courses, and for agencies to offer training to their staffs. This year we are excited to announce that Grants are now available for agencies to offer training in their community, as well.
Application process, amounts, and eligibility remain the same. To be eligible the applicant must be a CHNA 15 Voting Member (the applicant or another representative from the applicant’s agency, must have attended two CHNA 15 meetings within the past year). An application form must be submitted. If funded, recipients are asked to provide a brief report at a CHNA 15 meeting.
Training topics should relate to the national Healthy Communities approach to health which emphasizes enhancement of community health and well-being and/or to the CHNA 15 2011 Needs Assessment result priorities.
Grants are available and are limited in size to a maximum of $300 for an individual scholarship and $750 for an agency staff training or community training grant. Agencies may apply for one individual scholarship and one agency or community training grant within a twelve month period, as funds allow. Agencies are encouraged to invite those from other CHNA 15 towns and organizations to attend their events, as space allows.
The Scholarship and Training Application is available elsewhere on the website. Should you have questions you may contact Jan Hanson, CHNA 15 Coordinator, at jhanson800@aol.com.
CHNA 15 Releases
Community Health Assessment Report
The Northwest Suburban Health Alliance, also known as Community Health Network Area (CHNA) 15, recently held its annual meeting at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center, 1276 Main Street, Concord, MA to showcase the successful programs funded by the group during the past year. In addition to the Showcase, CHNA 15 held its 2012 Annual Meeting and celebrated the release of its Community Health Assessment Report 2011, a substantial undertaking that began in 2010 to determine the health needs of the 12 communities that comprise CHNA 15.
In releasing the Assessment Report, CHNA 15 is culminating a process designed to inform its future initiatives as well as those of its member organizations. The assessment was led by an Assessment Advisory Board comprised of volunteer members of CHNA 15. It included key informant interviews and surveys conducted with community members throughout CHNA 15. Following a review of existing data, the team focused the assessment on four priority health areas: mental health, public safety, food and nutrition, and community relationships. The interviews and surveys revealed related concerns, and allowed the group to identify priority areas to guide the work of the CHNA over the coming years.
Jan Stewart, CHNA 15 Chairperson, celebrated the report’s release and the enormous amount of work involved in conducting the assessment. “We hope that this report will focus more attention on the interrelated nature of many problems in our communities, and that it will foster more collaboration and sustainability through shared initiatives. In addition, having identified health needs in our communities, we will now work to address those needs while aiming to improve the overall health of our member communities.”
Founded in 1992, the Northwest Suburban Health Alliance, which includes the towns of Acton, Bedford, Boxborough, Burlington, Carlisle, Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Littleton, Wilmington, Winchester and the city of Woburn, works to build healthier communities through community-based prevention, planning and health promotion. CHNA 15 envisions that each and every community will be a safe and supportive environment that empowers community members to develop self-esteem and personal responsibility to make positive and healthy life choices. CHNA 15. meeting every other month and open to all citizens in the twelve communities, offers networking, trainings, local grants, scholarships and collaborative community and agency opportunities. The next General Meeting will be held September 20 at Minuteman Senior Services in Bedford, MA.
The report is available on this website by clicking on Assessment Report on the Home Page. To learn more about the CHNA and to become involved contact Jan Hanson at JHanson800@aol.com
CHNA 15 2012-2013 MiniGrant Awards
Annually CHNA 15 provides MiniGrants of up to $6,000 each for projects serving one or more communities within the CHNA 15 area. Using a Healthy Communities approach that defines physical and social health broadly and emphasizes community collaboration, proposals must be designed to enhance community health and well-being through innovative projects. Within Healthy Communities efforts, health is not merely access to healthcare and the absence of disease, but strengthening positive social, mental, physical, economic and environmental conditions conducive to health and well-being. The focus is deliberately broad to encompass the ideals of CHNA 15 as well as a member’s agency’s mission.
This year’s CHNA 15 MiniGrant recipients are Friends Helping Seniors, Inc. from Woburn Senior Center, Winchester Multicultural Network, Wilmington Public Schools, Domestic Violence Services Network, Concord Children’s Center and Friends of the Playscape at Ripley, Center for Parents and Teachers, the Town of Carlisle Health Department, Communities for Restorative Justice and Acton-Boxborough Coalition for Healthy Youth.
The public is invited to view projects resulting from the MiniGrants when they will be on display at the 2012 CHNA 15 Showcase in May, 2013.
Are you looking at a Conference you would like to attend?
Is there someone you would like to have train your staff?
CHNA 15 2012-2013 Professional Development Scholarships are Available!
The Northwest Suburban Health Alliance, also known as CHNA 15, is offering financial assistance for Professional Development. CHNA 15 scholarships are available for individuals in the twelve CHNA 15 communities to attend trainings/ conferences or take online courses, as well as for agencies to offer training to their staffs.
To be eligible for a scholarship the applicant must be a CHNA 15 Voting Member. As designated in CHNA 15 Operating Principles a Voting Member, the applicant or another representative from the applicant’s agency, must have attended two CHNA 15 meetings within the past year. If funded in whole or in part through CHNA 15, Scholarship recipients are asked to provide a brief presentation at a CHNA 15 meeting, including copies of relevant training materials and handouts.
Scholarships are available, first come, first served, and are limited in size to a maximum of $300 for an individual scholarship and $750 for an agency scholarship. Agencies may apply for one agency scholarship as well as one individual scholarship per calendar year.
The scholarship application may be found in the Forms tab of this website. To apply submit a completed an ecopy of the application to CHNA 15 Coordinator Jan Hanson at jhanson800@aol.com.
HEALTHY COMMUNITIES PLANNING GRANT TRAINING HELD
coordinator Jan Hanson.

(Top row, right) Anita Scheipers, Assistant Town Administrator for town of Lincoln talks
about the importance of connecting with municipal decision makers in the Planning process.
(Middle row, left) Jan Stewart, Active Acton Consultant and Outreach Coordinator for Acton-Boxborough Coalition for Healthy Youth, speaks about identifying and engaging community stakeholders in the Planning Grant process as Elizabeth Thibeault, Regional Center for Healthy Communities istens.
(Middle row, right) Dan Pereira, Parks and Recreation Director for the Town of Lincoln shares his thoughts about some of the potential priorities for the town of Lincoln.
CHNA 15 2011-2012 Calendar
Other CHNA Task Force Meetings as required throughout the year.
