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Well Church Projects

The Well Church Initiative, launched in 2021, was established to equip and educate churches across Texas. Several programs developed through the initial grant funding continue today, including the annual Well Church & Community Conference and the Well Church Check-Up. Highlighted below are both current and past projects, along with their purposes and key achievements.

Current Projects

REACHing Well: Well Church, School, & Community (2023-2028)

The REACHing Well project, funded through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO), partners with rural churches to help strengthen their capacity to meet the unique challenges in access to and enjoyment of healthful foods and physical activity opportunities in rural areas—both inside the church and out into the surrounding community. Learn more about the two-step approach that builds a foundation toward sustainable education, resources, and service into the future by visiting our REACHing Well Project page (coming soon).

Clergy Health Education Program (2021-2025)

Clergy have assumed a prominent role in advising lifestyle choices related to personal and public health for their communities, especially in rural areas, often void of healthcare presence. However, recent research has highlighted that clergy have inadequate knowledge, and left without proper resources to help them provide and/or refer to accurate health information. To help ameliorate these issues, with supportive funding from the Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH), the primary goal of this project is to develop a high-quality, self-paced virtual education program for clergy to improve their health knowledge, abilities, and referral practices. The platform also enables growth of other health and wellness topics to edify clergy and faith leaders.

Past Projects 

Community Conversations on Health (2021-2024)

The Community Conversations on Health (CCoH) project, in partnership with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), sought to (1) give a voice to rural and faith-based communities to ask questions, share concerns, and request health information and resources, that could (2) enhance choice for making better informed decisions toward optimal health and well-being with respect to personal values and beliefs. In response, Health Improvement Projects (HIPs) were developed and implemented across 25 communities, as a way to improve access with tangible resources and education to aid in reducing risk of chronic disease through preventative lifestyle behaviors. Highlighted HIPs include:

  • Health education trainings
  • Commercial freezer/refrigerators and storage supplies
  • Physical activity and fitness equipment
  • Fruit and vegetable gardening and storage supplies
  • First aid, AED packages, and CPR training kits
Well Church Initiative (2021-2023)

The Well Church Initiative was initiated in 2021 through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Health and Safety Education Grant to empower rural churches by providing a suite of resources, such as a Well Church & Community Conference for education on timely and relevant health topics for churches and their communities, and the Well Church Check-Up to help bring awareness to churches’ own physical, mental, and spiritual wellness- including gaps in needs.

WELL CHURCH & COMMUNITY CONFERENCE

WELL CHURCH CHECK-UP

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