Accountable Communities for Health

GMUW is a leader in creating collaborative opportunities for collective impact initiatives. This means building and being part of a network of community members, organizations, and institutions who advance equity by learning together, aligning, and integrating their actions and resources to achieve population and systems-level change for good. 

THRIVE

Green Mountain United Way’s Executive Director Tawnya Kristen serves as the Chairperson for THRIVE, central Vermont’s accountable community for health partnership. The group includes nonprofit and state partners in coordinated efforts to ensure equitable access to health care and basic needs, including housing, food, mental health treatment, transportation, and financial stability for all community members.

We continue to use this powerful network of collaborative shared leadership in addressing social determinants of health, which has a major impact on people's health, well-being, and quality of life. This includes collaborative approaches to ensure all people have equitable access to stable housing, food, financial resources, mental and physical health care, education, healthy

environments, and the opportunity to define their individual purpose and goals in life. The group won the 2024 Vermont Public Health Champion Team Award from the Vermont Public Health Association.

Addressing Substance Use in Schools and the Workplace with Central Vermont Prevention Coalition

Why It Matters: Vermont teens substance and alcohol use is 5th in the nation at 14%

Central Vermont Prevention Coalition’s (CVPC) FUTURE VT (Families Uniting to Understand & Resolve Substance Effects in Vermont) is designed to reduce youth and their families cannabis and alcohol use in Central Vermont and to address the larger, more systematic structural issues related to health equity by implementing evidence-based, trauma-informed approaches that are recovery-centered.

Public Education Series: Shredding the Silence on Menopause in partnership with Central Vermont Medical Center

Nearly 70 women gathered on a snowy winter evening to watch the documentary M-Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause. The movie was presented by Central Vermont Medical Center and Green Mountain United Way, and was followed by a dynamic Q&A session with Dr. Colleen Horan, who is certified by the American Menopause Society. Women left feeling seen and heard, and wanting more opportunities to learn about healthcare and selfcare during menopause. 

“How we use our platforms, personally and professionally, to build knowledge and motivate the engine of curiosity to shred the silence around inequitable female health care is our responsibility.” – Joan Marie Misek, District Director, Vermont Department of Health