Be Healthy Berrien has been awarded a $150,000 grant to address health issues in Benton Harbor.

Be Healthy Berrien Director Dawn Marie Smith tells us the grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund seeks to address upstream issues that eventually lead to poor health outcomes downstream. To make that happen, Be Healthy Berrien and Corewell Health will be connecting community leaders with the Community Leadership Academy, which will create cohorts of stakeholders to focus on various health and wellness issues.

“And they’re able to gain skills from these organizations and also connect with these organizations and better understand how these organizations are navigating the challenges in their communities,” Smith said.

Corewell’s Heather Rudnik says Be Healthy Berrien and Corewell will be working with several community partners to discuss how the makeup of the community affects things like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

“They’ve been involved in some of these early discussions, and we’re really looking forward to continuing to keep these organizations involved,” Rudnik said. “We are going to be forming a steering committee shortly, and they will be involved in that as well.”

For example, Rudnik says the leadership academy will discuss things like repairing broken streetlights so residents feel more comfortable going for walks in their neighborhoods.

Be Healthy Berrien and Corewell will develop the project framework and course content with a goal to eventually offer health programming at the Bobo Brazil Community Center. The two-year planning period will start in January.