SPRUCE PINE – The AMY Wellness Foundation concluded its first round of Regional Convening Meetings Tuesday, Feb. 25, at which food insecurity, housing and mental health were discussed.
“We are so grateful to everyone that attended these meetings to better understand the landscape of what’s currently going on, what’s working and where the gaps are,” said Nora Frank, associate director of the AMY Wellness Foundation. “We are excited to furnish reports of our findings to the public as well as help our organization drive our efforts forward.”
AMY Wellness convened with more than 140 people in the three meetings throughout February to initiate its community-wide plan to address the aforementioned problems. AMY Wellness has now begun a similar set of meetings in Avery County.
“We will continue to convene about these topics to collaboratively impact change in our communities,” Frank said.
AMY Wellness Foundation Marketing and Communications Director Caitlin Trew-Johnson said the plan is creating change with action.
“Through each strategic meeting we plan to build reports with our findings that ultimately shape the way our Foundation seeks partnerships,” she said. “We want to build a healthy community by finding what is working well, where the gaps are and what partnerships will transform health and wellness for our region in the most sustainable, innovative and collaborative way.”
Trew-Johnson said in each meeting there were emerging themes and after synthesizing information shared by participants, AMY Wellness will publish a report with the findings that will guide its collective efforts to address some of the greatest needs in the region.
“For AMY Wellness Foundation, this report will help us design funding toward frameworks that are already working and help fill gaps that still exist,” she said. “The emerging themes identified by participants will also guide us in orchestrating targeting listening sessions this summer.”
AMY Wellness plans to have a second round of meetings so that by next year the Foundation can continue to work to address these issues and dive deeper into its plan to impact lasting change, Trew-Johnson said.