Community Improvement Efforts Contribute to Progress

in National Prize Selection Process

West Palm Beach, FL – Palm Beach County, Florida, was chosen as a finalist for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize. As a 2021 finalist, Palm Beach County is one step closer to the national Prize, which honors communities working at the forefront of advancing health, opportunity, and equity for all. Palm Health Foundation, Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County and Palm Beach County Youth Services Department collaborated on the application process for the prize that shared the county’s collective commitment to the social determinants of health, including Birth to 22: United for Brighter Futures, an alliance of over 300 organizations supporting the healthy growth, development and education of children and youth prenatally through young adulthood.

Palm Beach County joins eight other finalist communities from across the country. Winners will be announced this fall.

“We are pleased to advance as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize finalist community,” said Patrick McNamara, president and CEO of Palm Health Foundation. “We know that one of Palm Beach County’s greatest strengths is how our health organizations, funders, nonprofits and communities collaborate and build on each other’s strengths with a lens that focuses on health, opportunity and equity for all, and now the rest of the nation will, too.”

“We credit our advancement to Prize finalist to how we are co-creating solutions with residents to build a culture of health,” said Lisa Williams-Taylor, CEO of Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County. “We’re working together to remove barriers to better mental and physical health in all aspects of life to create lasting impact.”

The other 2021 finalists include:     

Anne Arundel County, Md.

Bastrop County, Texas

Freehold Borough, N.J.

Green Bay, Wis.

Howard County, Md.

Rocky Mount, N.C.

Salinas, Calif.

Thunder Valley Community-Oglala Lakota Nation (Oceti Sakowin Territory)

“RWJF Culture of Health Prize communities offer important examples of places where partners are coming together to cultivate a shared commitment to equity so all residents can thrive,” said Richard Besser, MD, RWJF president and CEO. “We look forward to connecting and speaking with residents and community leaders in each finalist community to learn more about how they are achieving meaningful and lasting change.”

To get to this stage in the process, communities had to showcase the breadth of work and collaboration happening across sectors to expand health opportunities for residents. To become a finalist, Palm Beach County had to demonstrate how its efforts reflect the six Prize criteria:

• Defining health in the broadest possible terms.
• Committing to sustainable systems changes and policy-oriented long-term solutions.
• Creating conditions that give everyone a fair and just opportunity to reach their best possible health.
• Maximizing the collective power of leaders, partners, and community members.
• Securing and making the most of available resources.
• Measuring and sharing progress and results.

If selected as a Prize winner, Palm Beach County will be given a $25,000 prize and a national platform to share their story and lessons learned with the country. The community will join with and learn from other national and community change leaders, including past Prize- winning communities.

To learn about the work of the 44 previous Prize winners, visit www.rwjf.org/prize.

The RWJF Culture of Health Prize is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

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Media Contacts

Otero Communications

Melanie Otero, melanie@otero.com, 305-321-6447

Jennifer Martinez, jennifer@jlmcommunications.net, 561-301-4998

About Palm Health Foundation 

Palm Health Foundation is Palm Beach County’s community foundation for health. With the support of donors and a focus on results, the foundation builds strong community partnerships, respects diverse opinions, advocates for its most vulnerable neighbors and inspires innovative solutions to lead change for better health now and for generations to come. The foundation supports health equity for Palm Beach County residents of all backgrounds, heritage, education, incomes and states of well-being. Palm Health Foundation has invested more than $85 million in Palm Beach County health since 2001. For more information about Palm Health Foundation, visit palmhealthfoundation.org or call (561) 833-6333.

About Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County

The Council is a local, special-purpose government created by Palm Beach County voters in 1986 and reauthorized in 2014. For more than 30 years, it has provided leadership, funding, services and research on behalf of the county’s children so they grow up healthy, safe and strong. For more information about Children’s Services Council, please visit www.cscpbc.org.

About Palm Beach County Youth Services Department

Palm Beach County Youth Services Department’s mission is growing brighter futures by providing quality service, education, and access to resources and opportunities. For more information about Palm Beach County Youth Services Department, visit www.pbcgov.com/youthservices/.

About Birth to 22

Birth to 22: United for Brighter Futures supports the healthy growth, development and education of Palm Beach County children and youth so that they can graduate from high school and succeed in life. The Birth to 22 Alliance is a Palm Beach County coalition, with more than 300 contributing community partners, that sets priorities and acts to improve the lives of children and youth. For more information, visit pbcbirthto22.com.