To our dear friends and supporters,
We could not be more excited to share with you today that The Grassroot Project is now Grassroots Health. As you may have seen through past communications, our growing team and community partners have been working to position our organization to have a larger impact on national school-based health for young people. While we started in 2009 as a rag-tag group of college athletes committed to sparking dialogues about the growing HIV epidemic in DC, our passion for our cause has led us to respond to a growing demand for re-imagining the culture of health in schools.
As you may have seen over recent years, we have broadened our HIV curriculum to address healthy relationships, consent, and sexuality, added programming focused on mental health and nutrition, created space for parents and caregivers of our students to discuss health through our Grassroots Fam workshops, and developed a linkage-to-care model to connect our students directly to neighborhood-based healthcare and social service providers (Grassroots Connect). As we have added these programs, we have also invested in the young people who lead our work – NCAA collegiate athletes who commit to getting off their campus learning and acting to support community-based social change. Through our more than 1,500 athlete alumni, we have helped to build the next generation of public health, education, and social justice leaders at a time when our country needs it most.
Our new identity reflects the evolution that our organization has taken over time, and it boldly states our two core priorities for the future – focusing on grassroots, community-based change, and centering our focus on advancing health equity. We have removed the HIV/AIDS awareness ribbon and replaced it with an arrow symbolizing our commitment to progress and focus on movement building. The colors in our the Grassroots Health arrow icon represent the three core thematic areas of our work – mental health (green), sexual health (red), and nutritional health (blue).
As we prepare for our next step of growth – an expansion to our first new city (Philadelphia) – and work toward our long-term vision of replicating Grassroots Health nationally, we are in need your support more than ever. While our country is acutely aware of the importance of health and wellbeing, our economy and our collective philanthropy has been in decline. We hope you might consider joining us to celebrate the new brand and vision at our 2022 Grassroots Gala on October 1, or by supporting us by joining our Coaches Circle, a monthly giving circle where members give anywhere from $5 to $100+ per month. So we ask you: are you willing to join us by donating as a new member to the Grassroots Health Coaches Circle?
We’re excited for the future of Grassroots Health, and we thank you for your continued generosity and support in this pivotal time as we move forward into the future together.
With sincere gratitude,
Tyler, Jane, Mackenzie, Katie, Darien, Lara, Treniyyah, Ana, and the rest of the Grassroots Health team
